Vintage Photographer
Wrong.
Every one of those websites is effectively a level playing field – you have an account and each and every one of your customers can just as easily have an account too. The customer there is not standing cap in hand on the carpet in front of your Managing Director, they are talking to you as equals. You have an account online, theirs is just as big and even more important to them.
The same can be said of supplier businesses and customer companies. It’s peer to peer with the customer being slightly more “peer” than you in their eyes!
So why then, when you are so busy building your “Like” counts and your “Following” counts and your “Comments” counts do you only focus on your own?
For the same effort you can give each and every one – or half – or even just one in ten – of your customers a sloppy wet kiss on the back and a pat on the lips. Virtually free!
Reply to a customer’s or supplier’s comment and they’ll walk tall because you noticed them. Spontaneously leave a comment or a like on a customer’s or supplier’s wall or timeline or page, proving that you’ve visited and you’ve read and they’ll remember you and your company from now until the next ice age.
Do you consider yourself too big to make the traffic two-way? Are you too important to “Follow” others or “Friend” them or “Like” suppliers or chat and swap banter with Joe Public?
If your company ego is too large for any of that then you’re snubbing everyone who gives you a thumbs up or a shout out or just drops by and says hello. You wouldn’t turn up your nose, look haughty and ignore them in real life, so why would you do so online?
Yes, it’s a responsibility and yes, you have to be careful – you’re putting more of the company out there, whoever is in charge of doing so must make sure that it’s positive and doesn’t land you in legal do-do. But that’s easy – remember the old maxim that if you have nothing good to say then say nothing! There are plenty of safe and vanilla moments online where a friendly word sown will reap a ton of goodwill without need for recourse to disclaimers and Ts & Cs.
Be bold, be brave, be careful and if the situation is controversial then move silently on but wherever you can, reach out and shake hands, say hello and step down off your pedestal! It’s about you yes, but it’s not about you. To build any engagement or relationship at all – and who doesn’t want brand loyalty and repeat customers – you must make the traffic two-way.
Here at Vintage Photographer we post more on other people’s blogs than we do on our own, we comment like crazy and we make each comment and interaction as intelligent and considered as we can – while keeping the fun. I believe that your web presence can be as big and as flashy as you want to make it but genuinely reaching out to customers and potential customers will trump that any day.
Get out there! Get involved! There’s a reason why it’s all called a social “network” – like a fishing net, it’s complicated and has threads running in all directions. If you try to fish for customers with a net made up of one neat thread the only thing you’re going to get is knotted.
Like! Share! Re-Tweet! Don’t just accept – GIVE and GIVE GENEROUSLY!
Or do you consider your company to be too big for that?
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