Connect With Your Customers Using Social Media

Today consumers are accessing social media as a main source for news and information. Age is less of a factor now, as all ages are tapping into some form of social media to communicate, said Jolene Griffin, manager of industry communications with Dairy Management Inc.

Griffin offers suggestions for helping businesses use social media to resonate with consumers:

• Identify your real-life communities. Identifying online communities is as simple as thinking about your real-life communities, Griffin says. Real-life communities may develop from sporting events, activities with kids or hobbies like cooking and fishing. Online communities exist for just about any hobby or interest there is.
• Think innovatively when identifying online communities. What are some organizations that you belong to that would be a natural fit to join online? Make a list of your non-work related interests and search for online components to these communities. “Your time spent online should be an extension of your connections and interests in real life,” Griffin notes.
• Listen & observe. Once you’ve compiled a list of communities to join, listen and observe the conversations. To build trust and foster relationships you do have to spend some time monitoring and observing the conversation, it’s all part of building credibility.
• Find an “in”. There might not be an immediate opportunity to share your message. The longer you monitor and observe, the easier it will be to find an “in.”
• Craft your communication and responses. What we say is just as important as how we say it. We want to ensure the messages we’re putting forth are “showable,” searchable, “sayable” and shareable, says Michele Ruby, communication consultant with Ruby-Do.
• Work to include photos and videos to convey your message. “It’s one thing to tell someone, but it’s another to show them a picture,” Griffin says. “When talking about planting corn this weekend because it’s finally dry, show pictures. Pictures help people feel like they were there.” It helps build the connection to real-world farming that more of the public use to have.
• Use appropriate tagging methods to ensure that messages are searchable. In Twitter you want to use hash tags, such as #farming or #dairy. Blog posts should be tagged with key words. Taking these extra steps will make sure that people can easily find your information. “Online posts and tweets are really conversations,” Griffin says. “You want to make sure it sounds like your conversing in real life.” Avoid using industry jargon.
• On Twitter, try to keep posts under the 140-character limit. That type of “tweet” will be more attractive to be retweeted (passed on to others), Griffin says.
• Manage relationships. Once you’ve become a member of an online community you need to manage your involvement. “You have a million things going on at the farm, you’re a parent and you have your own personal interests, and managing relationships shouldn’t be overwhelming,” Griffin says.

Griffin says, remember to be proactive and not just reactive. Embracing social media should be a unique experience to you and your interests. ◆