Social Media: Thy Name is Community Building
By Liam Dempsey
As a communications designer, clients often tell me of their confusion on how to use social media to grow their business. I regularly field questions like ‘What should I blog about?’, ‘What could I possibly tweet about?’ and ‘What would I want to put on Facebook?’ My response to these concerns is that social media is about building a community.
As small business owners or sole-traders, we rely on personal relationships to promote our business. Warm, friendly exchanges with clients or potential clients go a long way to building lasting relationships. When a customer walks into our studio or shop, we appreciate the importance of welcoming her and making her feel at home. Bumping into a supplier at Tesco, we greet him, ask about his day and the like. We build a community through conversation and sharing.
When it comes to blogging and tweeting, our goal is the same community building effort as we progress offline. We look to connect with our customers, suppliers, colleagues and those around us. We strive to engage our community in conversation (meaningful is ideal, but even banter has value) through our blogs, Twitter and Facebook (among others).
But what does that mean in a practical sense? How does ‘community building’ translate into blog content? To answer that, here are a few possible suggestions:
| Let’s say, for example, that as an artist, we take inspiration from classic Victorian railway stations. So, post a few photos on our blog of the stations that we visited last weekend. Explain why we find them inspiring (keep it light!) Ask readers to suggest what stations they love. Inviting comments from readers (customers) is a great way to start conversations.
On our way into the studio today, we found a new café that makes amazing almond croissants. With our phone, snap a photo of the café or of the croissant and tweet about it. Be sure to include the café’s Twitter name in the tweet. (If they don’t have one, email them later to let them know we bigged ‘em up online.) Promoting local business is a great way to build community. We have a stand at an upcoming show next month. Be sure to mention that on our Facebook page and invite fans to stop by and see us at the show. Be sure to add a link to our blog so that fans can get all details (where, when, how to get there, where to buy tickets, etc.) on our website. Often, fans will leave response comments on Facebook about looking forward to seeing us. Through Facebook, we will get exposure to all of our fans’ friends. These three possibilities are focused on starting conversations, promoting others and inviting visits. None are directly sales related. By taking this approach, we are extending our business community onto the internet, using the same friendliness and professionalism that we maintain in the real world.If you would like to learn more about building a community through social media Liam will be leading the workshop: Tweet, Tag & Blog, Connecting with Clients to Build Your Brand on 20 April 2010 at Cockpit Arts, Holborn. Book now and read more. About the author Liam Dempsey is a communications designer and blogger. He is the founder and director of lbdesign, a communications design consultancy in London and Philadelphia. Online since the early 1990s, he is the co-editor of http://chickenmonekydog.com, a daily blog about the quirkiness of life that surrounds us all. He lives in greater Philadelphia. |
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