That all important next step, after you've listened to what's being said and having chosen your niche market, you should have had people start to follow you and striking up some conversations.
Stage 3 - Interaction
Now what to do I do? The biggest mistake that isn't all that uncommon is that nothing further happens; you get a follow or a conversation starter and they're left you've moved on. We understand that it can become extremely difficult to monitor each new follower when you receive hundreds a day (which we are sure you will) or reply to every customer enquiry immediately. But don't completely forgo any interaction; it is part and parcel of being seen as a company or business that cares for your clientele by answering the majority of comments and questions you receive.
How to get the conversation started!
To begin with to get the conversational juices flowing it is an idea to invite people to strike up conversation with you. There are various tools that are at your disposal;
- Inviting commenting; when you write an article or post an image for that matter, as a small out note invite people to comment or post their opinions about the topic. This is a great way for you to get an idea of who is reading your article and the number of people too. You are also able to take notice of similar comments being made and modify your approach where appropriate.
- P's and Q's- Those small things in life like thanking a person for their follow, or noticing that they mention you in a post and striking up a conversation with them. This ties in with listening, by constantly monitoring your influence on social media networks you can maximise positive press and manipulate negative press as well.
- Direct questions -You can send direct questions or messages to targeted people asking their opinions on a given topic. Picture this; your launching a new teaching app for instance, it makes sense to target a teacher. You offer them a demo and they leave a response of how they feel it performs. A quick and easy way to get feedback and information from real professionals on your site.
- Reply - The final yet most important point is to ensure that you reply to comments and messages in a timely and accurate fashion. This increases your credibility, reliability and more people will be inclined to voice their opinions and talk to you. This has to be closely manages as mentioned to manage good and bad press coverage!
These are just four of the techniques that can be used to maintain and grow your online presence. Get going!