Tip: Building connections in the online community

Social media is the newest frontier in marketing and public relations. It’s fresh, it’s fun and it provides a real connection to your audience. Social media outlets – blogs, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter – have quickly grown in popularity and are on their way to becoming as essential as a website for many businesses. If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, now is the time!

Check out our five best tips for forming a following online:

• Put a face to the name – Include a personal photo with all your online identities. People like to make a connection with a face and will feel more intimately acquainted with you when they can see who you are.
• Mix the personal with the professional – Social, by nature, means there is a relationship between human beings. To forge relationships with your online followers you need to mix bits of your personal life into your professional messages. Avoid giving TMI, but do write about things that happen to you in your daily life and include personal experiences to let people get to know who YOU are and to identify with you.
• Contribute – Be an active member of your online communities. Read and comment on group discussions, follow other tweets and leave feedback in related forums. Don’t just speak TO the community, be part of it.
• Keep it relevant and interesting – Social media messages should never be advertisements. If all you do is online is constantly plug your product or services, others will quickly lose interest in you. Keep your topics and comments informative, educational and, where appropriate, fun. If you wouldn’t want to read it, chances are no one else will.
• Open it up to questions – Engaging others in your message is essential. You have to allow feedback, the positive and the negative, to truly build loyal fans. Unbiased comments and questions keep it real and add to the legitimacy of your message. Posting negative feedback lets you know what others are saying about you and gives you the opportunity to refute it.

Bottom Lign: The interactive nature of online communities is a great way to bond with your audience, build new connections and secure lasting relationships!