Without trust on social media sites, you have nothing. If people don’t trust you, they don’t like you, they don’t believe you and they don’t care to know anything about you. All of this carries over to your brand.
Just like when forming relationships with new people, trust is one of the first things we need in order to develop an attachment to a brand or company. Luckily, Social Media Today has outlined 10 tips to becoming a trustworthy brand on social media sites.
1. Display Authority
Too many people try to fake authority online because there’s no face-to-face interaction. But, what social media strategy consultants will tell you is that everything can be validated and with great ease. Display authority by giving credit to other people, establishing that you’re the real organization and publishing results.
2. Prove Yourself
Again, everything can be validated. Mashable created a list of things to publish to prove that you are real: testimonials, customer references, partner references, kudos from other thought leaders, examples of work completed, links to work completed, guest blogs you have contributed to, links to blogs where you and your content has been cited, white papers, ebooks, etc.
3. Do what you say. Say what you do.
Don’t make a claim that you can’t support and don’t claim something that you can’t do. If you say you give the best social media strategy advice out there, then post some good advice or better yet, post a client’s work that you’ve done. Either way, you have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
4. Consistency
This is really tricky in a large corporation, but in small business, it is essential. A large corporation may have one, two, even five people managing their social media services and somehow they all have to tweet, post and blog in a similar voice. Similarly, small businesses need to maintain the same type of consistency. Social media consultants for companies, large or small, need to have personal and professional beliefs aligned with company values in everything that they share.
5. Apply these tips to others.
You need to follow, like and interact with other real deal companies. Apply all of the tips listed here to measure if what they’re doing is real too. This helps you, helps your fans and it even shows a little love to complimentary businesses.
6. Tweet Carefully
How many times have we seen people mess up the 140 characters in a tweet? Kitchen Aid will forever go down in infamy for the astonishing tweet posted about President Obama’s grandmother during the election. Be careful. Use the 140 characters to inspire, create calls to action or for news releases, but carefully monitor who is in control.
7. CRM
Use social media and advertising on social media to manage customer relationships. It should be an informal place for consumers to learn about the brand, products/services and company. Really develop that relationship, don’t sell yourself short.
8. Create Conversations
The way in which social media is being used today has changed. Create conversations that are actually meaningful. Create a platform or space that answers questions, addresses complaints and reinforces positive experiences.
9. Leave Yourself Out of It
This is not about you. This is about your audience, clients, partners and markets. Learn from them and listen to them. This way, you will be able to post worthy content and helpful items attracting a larger following and building more trust and credibility.
10. Take Credit for Posts
You started this business because you know a thing or two. Give a biography at the end of content posts explaining who the author is and why they have the credentials to tell you what they said.
For help with your social media strategy, contact our Atlanta advertising agency today!
