Move over, business cards and glossy mailers. These days, social media is one of the first places that people get to see – and interact with – your brand. Not only does social media play a critical role in your brand building, but it’s also a vital part of your customer service. It’s where people show up to ask questions, share their thoughts and (eek!) complain.
Here are 5 easy pointers for keeping new and existing fans and customers singing your praises.
1. Get you a killer social media team.
It takes a village to run a brand account. Good news! Building your pool of helpers doesn’t have to cost a fortune. These roles can fall to interns or even community volunteers happy to pay it forward by helping moderate your accounts. Post a call for volunteer moderators, or create a paid internship role that gives early-career communications technicians vital experience while helping build your brand as well. Now your team can handle customer service while you focus on the high-level strategic stuff.
2. Whip up some brand guidelines.
Make it easier on your team by creating guidelines that outline how you talk and what sound like. Give them a bit of wiggle room – you don’t want them to sound like robots– but knowing broadly what they should and shouldn’t say while also knowing your general vibe will help them connect with an audience on a personal level while also putting your brand’s best foot forward.
3. Respond to the trolls, but don’t feed them.
Hopefully most of your comments are ☀️ and 🍭, but no matter how great you are, you’re going to get the occasional criticism or even troll in your mentions or DMs. It sucks, but it’s also an opportunity to show your audience that you’re paying attention and that you’re taking ownership of constructive feedback. See if the comment has merit and respond accordingly – sometimes it might just be setting the record straight, or even taking down some content and issuing an apology (hey, we’re all human). If the comment is a straight-up troll, respond but don’t egg them on or lash out. Take the high road — always.
4. Have some scripted responses!
It’s not a good look when a brand responds to every comment with the exact same soundbite, but having a handful of scripted responses to lean on can be a huge help for you and your team in ensuring that you’re consistent in how you’re responding and in alignment with the brand’s voice. Remember, your newer team members don’t know your brand inside-out like you do, so giving them some basic formulations they can use will keep you on the same page and stop them from feeling stressed out or stuck. Win-win!
5. Engage like a human!
Finally, the number one way to keep your fans and prospective customers happy is to focus on relationship-building. Ask open-ended questions as part of your social media strategies, launch conversations and strive to make connections. You never know who’ll become a client or even a volunteer – but they’ll be way more likely to if you treat them as people and not just “likes” or no-name comments. Strive to engage and delight your followers, and you’ll be set!
Need some pointers for building engagement or wrangling your social admin and analytics? Book a pulse check, and let’s level up your social media presence!