By: Amy Chen
Whether it’s with your customers, employees, stakeholders, or suppliers, a genuine relationship is fundamental to any successful business.
As our world is shifting quickly to social media platforms, effective maintenance of online relationship becomes just as important as an in-person relationship.
So, what are seven tips to follow in building and maintaining an authentic online relationship? Ricky Shetty from Daddy Blogger and a panel of social media experts (Matt Astifan, Wendy McClelland, Michelle Castillo, Steve Dotto, Cadi Jordan, Vincent Ng, Katt Stearns, Jonathan Christian, and Kemp Edmonds) who spoke at the recent 2015 Social Media Mastery Conference offered several nuggets throughout the day-long event.
We have rounded it up the best of our ability into seven take away tips:
1. Do unto others as they have done unto you. If you want others to Like, share and engage on your posts, do so first and reciprocate. Remember to be respectful and thank others when they engage in your conversations. Just like any relationship building, the more time you spend engaging in it, the more you will get noticed. But make sure your engagements are meaningful, appropriate and reflect the kind of personality you want others to perceive.
2. Go the extra mile. Social media, especially LinkedIn, is a world full of professional connections. There are many others with a similar background as you. To get noticed, you need to build connections by going the extra mile. Thank others when you make a connection with them. Or, offer encouragement, compliments and expert advice where appropriate.
3. Use hashtags. Use hashtags (but don’t overuse them) so your content appears in conversations with likeminded individuals. When you have a common ground with others, it’s much easier to engage in an authentic conversation and build a relationship.
4. Pictures are in. Visual image is where it’s at in social media. People are drawn towards images and colours. Use images wherever possible in your social media posts. It is only when you have someone’s attention then you can have their ears to listen.
5. Tag appropriately. The rule of thumb is to only tag people who appear in your photo. Don’t flood and spam your social media connections by tagging photos of people who do not appear in the photo. Chances are, your connection won’t be sharing or engaging in the conversation if it’s not relevant to them.
6. Find common ground. Part of building and maintaining a relationship is finding your common ground with the other person. When you share the same hobbies, stories, or have a similar common ground, you’re able to start a conversation that you’ll both relate to and find interest. From there, a meaningful and authentic relationship can be built and often leading to a successful business relationship.
7. Treat it as a real relationship. If it’s not something you will want the whole world to know about, don’t share it on social media. Treat every connection you have on social media as an in-person relationship. Behave as you would in-person.
What do you think? Do you agree? Do you have any tips to add or share? Let us know below.