Build Your Following By Showing Social Media Appreciation
When it became obvious that businesses could reach out to their customers, as well as to hordes of social media users who are potential customers, the power of social media to engage with audiences started becoming more apparent. Many businesses leapt at the opportunity, and began interacting with their customers and potential customers via social media, to determine their wants, needs, and pain points.
Other companies used social media to announce product updates, and to inform users of important company events such as personnel changes. Some brands even engaged with their clients on social media for the purpose of handling their concerns and customer complaints, so that users would then view those companies and those brands as being entities which are concerned about them and their opinions. Some companies also designate a certain number of employees to participate in social media platforms to chat directly with customers and answer any questions they might have.
Recently, another use for the social media has been discovered by many companies, and this has given rise to a trend which involves demonstrating appreciation through social media. This is an interesting development which both users and companies gain value from, users because it makes them feel wanted and appreciated, and companies because they gain the appearance of being a business entity which cares about its consumers.
Milestone appreciation
Some companies have begun offering appreciation for clients when they achieve certain milestones, which have served as objectives to be reached. As an example, a company might be striving to exceed a certain sales record for a given month or for a year perhaps, and when that milestone is achieved, appreciation is shown to customers by offering some worthwhile perk.
There are lots of ways that appreciation can be shown to customers, for instance by offering discounts or free shipping, or by lowering prices for a given time frame. In most cases, the company will also make a prominent posting on their platform of choice, just to say ‘thank you’ to all those customers who helped with the achievement of the goal.
Contests which recognize consumers
Most consumers and customers wish to be recognized, and when there’s a boost to their social media following, it is genuinely appreciated. Some companies have staged monthly contests where users are encouraged to send in photos and videos of themselves doing crazy things, or using the company’s products in unusual ways.
At the end of the month, the winner of the contest gets a sincere congratulatory note from a company official, and a photo of them might get posted on the company’s social media account. This not only spawns immediate notoriety for the winning contestant, but their following on the social media almost always gets a tremendous boost as a result.
Appreciation of feedback
A number of companies are starting to demonstrate sincere appreciation of feedback provided by users, because that feedback is often critical toward improving products or services which make the company better. Some companies will even take polls to determine potential interest from customers, and the results of those polls are then used to drive product lines. This can either be done directly via the social media, or through third-party software companies who conduct these kinds of surveys professionally.
When companies acknowledge their consumer followers and the feedback they provide, it can strengthen the brand’s image tremendously, and help to establish or build a very loyal customer base. One great way that your company can demonstrate appreciation to all its customers and followers is simply to listen to the feedback they provide, and act on it when that makes sense.
Giveaways
One of the methods for showing appreciation which fans and followers like best are giveaways. If you can think of a quirky kind of giveaway which captures the attention of the news media, and causes them to spotlight it on their broadcasts, you just might hit the jackpot with a giveaway promotion. As an example, for Valentine’s Day your company might want to offer some number of romantic packages to followers who either don’t have the money or the time to purchase gifts for their sweethearts.
A story like this might very well be picked up by local news media, and provide terrific coverage for the company offering the giveaways. It’s a win-win situation, because it paints a picture of a caring company which is promoting romance on a special day of the year, and it also gains some very positive public relations exposure for the company to increase its brand recognition.
Feature a customer on your site
To really demonstrate appreciation for followers and customers, you can feature a profile of an individual on your website or your social media account. Everyone loves being recognized, and this amounts to some serious recognition with a great many people having visibility to the personality profile. This will also improve your image as a company which cares about its followers, and is just a great way to show how truly appreciative you are of the clients who are boosting your business.
Endorse clients on LinkedIn
Chances are, your business will have a lot of professional followers whom you can count among those interested in your products and services. As you become aware of some of these professionals, you can demonstrate your appreciation for their loyalty by endorsing them on LinkedIn. This amounts to a very positive kind of appreciation which you can extend to consumers loyal to your company, and the endorsement will benefit them greatly.
Share a posting
When you have a posting that you feel is extremely relevant, and also probably very helpful to an individual customer or a group of them, you can show your appreciation of those followers by sharing a posting with them. If you have correctly assessed the posting as one of great value and relevance, your followers will probably be very grateful to receive the posting, and they may share it with their own friends and acquaintances. Your company will be viewed as one which is helpful and caring, and your followers will be genuinely pleased to have received a posting which they can use in their daily lives.
Heather Hart
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