Three Easy Tips to Increase Your Social Media Interaction

When were are “away from work” and simply surfing the social media channels, everything seems pretty straight forward.  Why it's there.  What it does.  How you use it.

But it when it comes to using social media for business, all of the sudden, it tends to become this big mystical creature that appears to have a hidden agenda… like… defeating you.

All of the sudden there is a purpose behind your posts.  An outcome that you would like to see happen.

We’ve all thrown a few posts out there thinking it sounds good and clever, and surely at least a few people will be “interested” and either contact us or click through to our information landing page… right?  Or maybe that’s just me.  wink… wink.

So let’s de-mystify the creature, shall we?

First, when you are on your own and not in business mode, why do you get on social media?

To catch up with friends, find out the latest gossip, see what people are up to, and maybe see what fun or informative things people are sharing.

It all comes down to entertainment and information.  That’s it.

So when we step back into our business suit, we must keep in mind that social media is for entertainment and information.  That’s it.

It’s not a place for business pitches, it’s not a place to throw an obvious hook.  There was a brief period of time where some of that worked, but definitely not anymore.

So now what?

It’s actually quite simple.  Social media is just that… social.  So this is a place to be sociable and informative.  Nothing else.  It is about building relationships and establishing your credibility in your field with the masses.

So here are 3 things to get you started with your social media posts.

*** Let’s start with the obvious…  DON’T BE A SALESPERSON!  People will tune you out, un-follow and even block you if you go down that road.  So with that in mind…

First, provide value.

Remember what we said, entertainment and information, if you can provide either or both of those you will being to attract attention.

I’m talking about real, relevant value.  A great mix is about 50/50.

Put out some inspirational posts like meme’s with inspirational quotes.  Remember, things that inspire you will inspire others as well.

Then put out some quality information.  It doesn’t matter if you have your own business or if you are an agent for something like insurance.  There is some information you just can’t or don’t want to put out there.  Sometimes it is proprietary and sometimes it is because the parent company dictates, but don’t let that stop you.

There is a lot of valuable information that you can put out there that will help people out.

As specialists in your field you know there are questions that people should be asking that they don’t even know to ask.  Put those out there.  For example:

“If you’re looking for X-type of insurance, be sure to look at Y-part of the policy, you don’t want to pay for more than you will need.”

It’s truly that simple.  People see little tips like that and they appreciate that you are looking out for them.  It may not be conscious, but they recognize it and soon they begin to remember you and your generosity.

Eventually, they will start seeking you out to answer more questions and next thing you know, you have a quality lead.

Second, us a social media multi-platform dashboard.

Using something like Buffer or Hootsuite will make it MUCH easier to manage your social media posting.

It can be frustrating when you start out to come up with enough quality content every day to put on your social media pages, but remembering all of them and then going in to do the posts can be even more frustrating.

Platforms like Buffer enable you to have one central location where you can enter or upload all of your social media posts and have them automatically scheduled and then dripped out over a period of time to your followers.

Many of these platforms use algorithms to determine the most beneficial times to post on each of your platforms and will do so at the appropriate times so you get the best possible reach with each of your posts.

I personally use Buffer because it allows me to post to Google +, Facebook (personal profile as well as business pages) Twitter, LinkedIn (personal and business), and now they have a feature for Instagram as well.  They have been the most reliable platform I’ve used yet.

I usually go in a plan enough posts for a few days at a time or up to 2 weeks at a time.

Third, use quality blogs.

If you don’t use blogs, I strongly recommend looking into it.  Often, while there is information you don’t  want to share on social media or are prohibited from using on social media, you CAN go into more about it on a blog.  Again… perhaps a little vaguer, but still in more depth than a simple social media post.

There are a lot of reasons to have a website with a blog on it, including the personal branding and SEO benefits.

Basically, there are a LOT of ways to get traffic and leads and being able to tie the all into one central location… like your company website is the most efficient and effective way to do it.  Starting with the fact that you can actually put forms on your site to capture the leads and begin to contact them.

Back to the blog posts…  doing a 500 to 1000 word blog post that contains relevant information that will genuinely benefit your readers is a huge way gain respect, build your credibility, build relationships, and ultimately cultivate new clients.

Basically, you just write the post, then post the link in your Buffer account with a friendly invitation os “How to choose the best insurance policy” or “10 things to remember when looking for a new house” or “How to tell when you salesperson is lying.”

Bonus tip...  try to put out about 2-3 social media posts per day. 

It will be enough to establish that you're active and involved without coming across either pushy or desperate with too many posts.

Using theses tips will help you to generate quality targeted leads that are already looking for what you have to offer, and you will have already begun to establish credibility and relationship.

If this article has been at all helpful to you, please share it and spread the word.  There is more than enough to go around so let’s help others succeed too!

Thank you!