According to Social Media expert, Peter Shankman, the entire point and purpose of social media is to listen to your customers. You have their attention and you can find out what they want and how to they want to receive information about it.
At a recent event in New York City put on by American Women in Radio and Television Organization, (www.awrt.org) Shankman said there are four key elements to maximizing social media.
1. Transparency- Be honest and forthcoming. Lay all your cards on the table. If you screw up admit it, apologize and do better next time.
2. Relevance- Use social media to ask your clients and customers what they want. Find out how your customers want to hear about what you have to offer. Do they want you to Twitter it, email it, IM or text it? Then give the information they want, the want they want it.
3. Brevity- Shankman says that the average attention span of people today is 2.7 seconds. Therefore, you better get to the point, and get to it quickly. If you don’t grab their attention you will lose their attention, and likely their business.
4. Top of mind- How are you different? Be different and be first. Be the first person, company, product, etc, that your customers think of.
Social media grows your brand. It is an extension of you and your customer service. There is no better way to grow your brand than to have people recommending you and your product. The best way to do that is with social media.
Peter also mentioned a very cool new device called the Poken stick... check it out!
To find out more about Peter Shankman visit www.shankman.com
For more info: visit www.sharspeaks.com or email us at shar@sharspeaks.com
Comments
I think this misses the point right of the bat. If one is to narrow down the "entire point and purpose" of social media, then it is to engage your customers as individuals. Listening is just the first step.
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