You can't fake social media hype!

28 October, 2009

• facebook
• online presence
• Twitter

Letitia Power

Category: Social Media

I lose interest at the best of times, hence the numerous fish graves at the back of my family home, the countless shriveled plants and the unsuccessful herb patch that I can't bear to tell Dad about.

We all have had something in our lives that we lost interest in, mine just involves the death of living objects. We lose interest if nothing seems to be significantly developing, advancing or producing at a rapid pace. It's only natural to want to see results immediately.

So when companies set out to develop their online presence, what seems to be the common trend is that the activity and energy in their content and posting regime slowly and rapidly deteriorates into nothing. Due to the number of followers, fans or friends not significantly increasing, or the results not quickly being what the company expected.

Looking through the countless numbers of company Facebook pages, this becomes more evident, some not even posting anything.

You can't fake social media hype!

Followers and fans will only engage with your brand if they have something to gain from the experience. This could be a discount, a voice, information and so forth - this all depends on the company.

Social media is the perfect opportunity to create an associative social experience between customers, prospects and a company. Listen and ask what these followers and fans want from you, ask for their opinion. Social media is the perfect opportunity to get feedback and insights into what your customers want and think of you.

As tacky as it sounds you need to give, give, give before you get, get, get. This same principle applies to social media campaigns and all the little things that are now buried in your backyard.

If something isn't working, review and approach the situation differently. The way users engage online evolves rapidly. If something isn't working, change your strategy and approach with or ahead of the trends.

After all this isn't just a fish, but a company's online reputation and presence.