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Romancing Social Media

Business relationships are actually quite similar to romantic ones. Both thrive on attention. The more positive, the better. The more consistent, the better… with an occasional unexpected perk.

Like, what?

Flowers for no reason would be the romantic metaphor. One printing company we enjoy working with would, for no discernable reason, occasionally give us a printing job for free. “Thanks for being one of our favorite customers,” was the stated reason.

Wow, we thought, how cool is that? Interestingly, that printing company only had to offer that perk once in a blue moon. Because it made a lasting impression. Obviously, we enjoyed the sentiment. And the perk. Of course, we wanted to keep being that favorite customer. So we gave them more of our business.

In social media, you can do something very similar.

And for lots less.

All it takes is time and intention. It all boils down the organization’s commitment to sustaining excellent relationships with clients and prospects. And the key to that?

Romancing the client:

• Frequent reminders about how important they are to you
• The occasional perk
• Use client examples of great work on social media
• Send those posts to your client – with feedback when appropriate

While FocalPoint knows it’s important to keep up traditional communication and PR, we also believe our clients should also be romancing their relationships through online forums

• Website updates
• Frequent blogs and vlogs
• Use the NOTES application in Facebook to create a special, limited-time “friends and family” promotion, tag friends and clients and ask them to pass along your exclusive deal.
• Tweet out contests, shout out to loyal customers and promote events. (And don’t forget to retweet loyal customer tweets.)
• Name drop on LinkedIN shares

Interesting conversations are happening all the time, so why not participate in a very visible way that says to your clients, “I really like you and you are the heart of our business.”

LinkedIN romance

Join as many groups on LinkedIN as you can that are related to what you sell and post a question or a tip on a regular basis. Client name drop (it’s free and it works wonders!)

• Mention a client If you have a blog or e-newsletter
• Post a client announcement to your Linked-In groups with a link whenever you release a new issue or blog posting.
• You’ll look great to lots of business people
• …and so will your client.

Romance isn’t dead. It’s on line and doing fine!

The Persuasive Art Of Email

Email is old school.

Or is it?

Worldwide, there are roughly 2.6 billion daily email users. And more than 4.3 billion email accounts. With 1.7 email accounts per user, email is definitely still relevant. More so, when you want to communicate to those in business.

Here’s how to use email persuasively and effectively:

Begin with a killer subject line

• Your subject line is crucial. That’s what draws your reader in.
• Lead with something strong, such as “What your competitor doesn’t know” or “Pay off your student loan in half the time” – called a Gain
• Pain headlines work well, too, i.e., “Say this, but never this,” or “The one word that kills a sale,” to absolutely draw readers.
• It’s human nature to want to know pain and gain secrets and inside information. Pique your readers’ curiosity.
• Keep it short and sweet (or search engines will truncate it for you.)
• Make your subject line handheld display-friendly. Smaller devices show between 6 – 10 words, so the ideal subject line is between 4 and 7 words (50 characters max).

Then satisfy that curiosity. Almost.

Keep your information short and crisp. Show your knowledge but don’t tip your hand. It’s a delicate balance.

Dangle bits of information and use key words and phrases consistent with your targeted market segment.

Promise more information by motivating them toward next steps. “Click here to find out 5 more ways to drive your best customer away,” is a good tactic.

Communicating scarcity or quick action still works to compel readers to click (or act). However, if you overuse this tactic, your readers will quickly become immune to it.

Show your email recipient you know something about them

People want to feel special. The more personalized your email is, the better. This means you need to segment out your email list. But that time and energy generally pays off.

If you are targeting Boomers, make sure you are speaking their language. Ditto for Millennials, restaurant managers, small business owners, or recent college grads with huge student loans. The more personal, the better.

Humor works

So does using the unexpected in a new way. “How to break all the rules and still beat your savviest competitor,” is a great example of that. Be irreverent and have fun. You’ll come across as a company that will be fun to work with. And who wouldn’t want that?