OpenSesame is a new tech company, and we’re embracing social media outreach to connect with the elearning community. It’s my job to put OpenSesame in front of the people who can benefit from participating in our marketplace. I do that primarily through blogs and social networks, as well as direct outreach.
My participation in the elearning community has helped me understand some principles of what people do successfully to engage their audiences. I am not an expert, but I’m happy to share what converts me from an impression to a click.
- Sell without selling. It’s fine if you’re trying to engage in conversation to meet new leads. Just don’t use your business’s motto or your website’s tagline in its entirety as a stand-alone tweet.
- Facebook and Twitter are not the same thing. Don’t let HootSuite or Tweetdeck persuade you that these two very different communities can be treated the same way. I recently “unliked” a beloved restaurant on Facebook because they were using HootSuite to update their status every time they tweeted. Great updates on Twitter can be Facebook News Feed spam.
- Make it easy for me to figure out who you are. Make sure your profile on Facebook, Twitter, Quora, your blog, LinkedIn, etc. is informative and answers basic questions about who you are, what you do and what your affiliations are. Also, provide a way for me to contact you besides just commenting on a blog post.
- Give me a hint as to what’s in that link. Please, for the love of Jane Bozarth, do not post a tweet like this: “This is so funny! www.bit.ly/a;lskfjdpaowie.” I promise you, I will not click on it. If there’s no sign that a human edited and interpreted the content in your Tweet, I will assume that your Twitter account has been hacked by evil spam bot and clicking on the link will reduce my laptop to dust.
- Solve my problem. Either answer a question someone has asked with a real, substantive answer or proactively share information and ideas that will improve my ability to do my job. Answering a question about, for example, the best software tool for small business with an unspecific promotion of your own product does not make me trust you or hear your message. Demonstrate that you understand the use case and explain why your product meets the need. Consider recommending other solutions you might know if your product isn’t the best for the situation.
In summary, be a human being. Earn trust. Build connections.
Photo Credit: rustman on Flickr