The Secret Sauce To Social Media Success: Engage Your Existing Fans And Followers!

11 Jul, 2013

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Social Media Success – the royal road every online marketer wants to tread: it offers us all that we desire; excellent exposure for our business, highly targeted network marketing leads, market place intelligence, search engine rankings, reduction in marketing expenses, and higher income potential.

Internet and network marketers strive to get a piece of this social media success pie. They join Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social sites and wait for the magic to happen. Many a time, it all falls flat, and they’re left wondering why they lost the game even with all those fans under the belt.

In my previous posts we have discussed everything there is to know about all the important social networking sites. And you must have noticed that there’s one thing common to all social sites.

People who follow your every move! Your fans, followers and friends on these sites!

Social Media Success: Your Fans Are Not Collectibles

What’s the point in “collecting” all those fans if your business is not benefiting from them? If you’re in it for fun, then that’s fine, have fun!

But as a marketer, learn to look at the benefit your business derives from the people who connect with you.

There’s power in numbers only when you take the time to engage with your connections.

“How many fans do you have?” Does it really matter?

The question is – “What do you actually want your fans to do for your company?”

“Quit counting fans, followers and blog subscribers like bottle caps. Think, instead, about what you’re hoping to achieve with and through the community that actually cares about what you’re doing”. Amber Naslund, brasstackthinking.com

Social Media Success: Marketing Results

Let’s face it – social media marketing, like any other marketing, comes down to results.

Have you ever thought of the worth of your social media friends?

According to Syncapse, a social media firm, a Facebook fan is worth $174. This is a 28% increase over last year, and this figure is expected to increase exponentially.

Marketers have pots of gold hidden amongst their fans; especially fans who enjoy sharing everything with others.

Let’s call them “super fans.” It’s these people that engage with you the most on the social media sites. There’s a lot of value attached to them, so be valuable to them! Also remember that

“The most successful marketer becomes part of the lives of their followers. They follow back. They wish happy birthday. They handle problems their customers have with products or service. They grow their businesses and brands by involving themselves in their own communities”. Marsha Collier, Best Selling Author, Customer Service & Social Media Influencer

Identify Your Super Fans

Pay attention to your fans or connections who are most active on social media and who don’t shy away from speaking their mind. It’s these people that’ll let you know they don’t agree with one of your posts or tweets.

Don’t hate them for their open communication. Reward them!

It’s often these people that have others asking them for their recommendations and opinions. They share their experiences with others, they share any freebies and discounts with their friends and they share everything they think is worthwhile.

Keep Track And Be A Super Spy

If you’re on Twitter, you can create lists. Create a separate list for your super fans. Keep a watch on them to see their activity and their interaction with others.

Let me give you a small tip: Create a private list for your competitors and keep a watch on them too. Just make sure you don’t let your competition see that you’re keeping track 🙂

Pay Attention and Be Generous

If you find a few people who create an engagement that makes a difference to your business, look after them. Offer them something in return or communicate with them often. Ask them for suggestions and let them know your future plans. It’s these people that will market your business for you.

You must keep in mind that these people love sharing important stuff with their friends, which means they would love to know about any special offers or important information you come out with. Make sure you let them know first of any events related to your business. Since you have a separate list of such people, all it takes is an email.

On Facebook, you can create a special Facebook group for such people.

Get to Know People

Have you ever looked at the profiles of your fans/followers? Check out your super fans and see what they like. Make a note in your spreadsheet. Post content based on their liking, of course including references to your brand. Post questions or tweet stuff they like reading about. Give them value.

Contests

I’ve hosted a few contests and each time I do, I generate more social media traffic, and interactivity. People love the idea of being rewarded for their involvement in your community. That’s why some sites and forums award “badges” and allow people progress to “higher status levels” the more contribution they make.

Assess True Value

When in business, every act of yours should be measured in terms of returns. There are several tools that give you facts about your social media engagement and shares. Cloze is a great free tool. It may not let you track metrics but it helps you improve your relationship with your existing fans and followers in your networks.

Social Media Success: Activate Your Community

Social media success can be unleashed not by acquiring new friends and followers, but in engaging and activating the existing people in your community.

Are you doing that?

Remember this whether you are a business or an individual:

“Social Media marketing is about brands acting, well, social. Which means they need to show up to the party with a nice bottle of wine, if that’s what the party calls for. They need to come ready to have a dialog, and add value to the event”. John Battelle, Founder & CEO of Federated Media Publishing, battellemedia.com

Please let me know your thoughts on this social media success article!