Showcasing the human side of your business on social media pays. It creates new leads, builds trust and that is why businesses do it. In fact, at a basic level it is simply an extension of the idea that content has to be created primarily for a human audience and then for the search engines.
Here are 6 reasons for your business to be human on social media:
Creating emotional connection. The first step in reaching out to prospects so that they can later be targeted with tailored content is to get their attention. And you can do this by reaching out as the human face of your brand. By establishing an emotional connection, brands stoke feelings of sympathy, empathy, and loyalty. Brands that focus on the human side of their social interactions report greater success in bonding with the audience and have a greater ability to connect with customers. At the end of the day it’s about people.
Smoother conversations. Conversation barriers that are present in a brand to audience communication get lowered in human-to-human interactions. This gives brands the opportunity to listen and absorb feedback emanating from the other side. People tend to open up and converse freely thereby offering insights into their thoughts and feelings. Information gathering from questionnaires and quizzes can be done in a more targeted manner when people know that a human behind the screen intends to use the information for resolving their issues and presenting a better product.
Assurance and authenticity. Customers want to get a feeling of assurance when communicating with a brand. And brands are better able to assure the customers when they reach out as humans instead of as helpdesk or admin. A human touch lends authenticity to your conversations on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, be it a joke or a nugget of information, it reads better when it comes from a fellow human being.
Asking for favors becomes easier. All social media channels have their own mechanisms of promoting good content in an organic manner; it is essentially in the form of peer-to-peer endorsements. Likes and shares on Facebook and retweets on Twitter are examples. Requesting likes and shares is a common practice that can greatly amplify the reach of your content. The appeal for a push sounds sincere and reasonable when it comes from a human with whom people have interacted before and is more of a friendly request; thus response rates increase.
Establish thought leadership. Humans in a company; CEOs, managers and even salesmen, get the opportunity to step forward as niche experts and build influence through conversations. The give and take, back and forth nature of exchanges on social media allows your brand’s personality to come through, which facilitates the trust-building process.
Give a behind the scenes peek to your audience to build trust. When you allow you audience to access the space normally not open to customers and clients; you expose them to more than just the nuts and bolts and the processes. You share with them stories of success, failure, joy, and despair. There are new learnings for your audience as well as you. Opportunities for collaboration are born and this transparency builds trust and loyalty with your customers.
Openness and genuineness are valuable attributes for a business looking to win over customers and retain old ones. Presenting the human touch of your business is a great way to project positive attributes so that the audience connects with more than just your brand’s logo. Take these ideas to heart and start seeing the difference in not only your social engagement, but in the new business generated for your business.
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