3 Simple Ways To Strengthen Your Relationships on Social Media

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, the rFactr team recently reflected on why we fell in love with social selling. It was no surprise that many of the statements focused on relationships, and how social selling allows you to build and strengthen bonds with those in your online network.

Putting words into practice, I have expanded on three simple and straightforward ways to strengthen your online relationships to aid in your social selling efforts.

Listen

The first step in building relationships with your online audience is to listen. One of the many benefits of social listening is the ability to stay informed of news and updates from your network. Browse your home timelines, read group discussion posts, and subscribe to digest emails to stay up to date with information about individual contacts, targeted companies, and your industry in general.

Show you care

The next step is to use the insight gained from your social listening practices to engage with specific users when you discover a trigger event. Trigger events can take many forms, however in general they are a social action or clue that can open the doors to communication. For example, did your connection recently celebrate a work anniversary or was their company recognized in the news? Reach out to them with a short congratulatory message or interact on their content. These simple actions don’t take much time and even the smallest gestures can make a big difference when a prospect enters the evaluation phase.

Build trust and add value

While this step requires the most effort, it in turn offers the greatest benefit. One of the best ways to add value to a relationship is through the publication of thought-provoking social content. Whether that is in the form of status updates, group discussions, or long-form posts, content production also provides you with a continuous way to stay top of mind with your contacts as those updates appear in your connections’ feeds. For added impact, target content to specific individuals through mentions and private messages and always remember to focus on providing value first and foremost.

It does take time, but the ability to create trusted relationships is a cornerstone of any successful business. Start by spending time each day to listen, show you care, and build trust with your audience to start accelerating your relationships (and your success with social selling) today.

3 Simple Ways To Strengthen Your Relationships on Social Media