Do Poor Soft Skills Undermine Your Social Media Marketing?
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Do Poor Soft Skills Undermine Your Social Media Marketing?
Kate Gingold
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Do Poor Soft Skills Undermine Your Social Media Marketing?

The Sprocket Report

The drive to master scheduled posts, targeted audiences and compelling CTAs is squeezing the “social” out of social media marketing and could be alienating your prospective customers.

Employment recruiters have remarked that current candidates seem to share a weakness when it comes to “soft skills.” The conversation is that while quite qualified in technical areas, many job seekers struggle to maintain authentic personal relationships with colleagues, managers and clients. But good social skills are incredibly important when working with people for completing team goals.

We’ve noticed a similar weakness in soft skills when it comes to social media marketing, which only makes marketing harder than it already is. If people buy from people they know and like, building authentic online relationships is just as important as building content calendars.

Simply posting to your social media platforms is a one-sided conversation. By sharing a dialogue, folks will see you as courteous, empathetic and reliable. Here are a few ways to make that connection:

Set up notifications

If it’s not part of your daily routine to check Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, you can set up emailed notifications that let you know when your business is mentioned or contacted. Then when you get notified, you can respond in a reasonably timely fashion.

Set up an auto first-response

While it seems counterintuitive to authenticity, responding automatically with a basic “message received” keeps the conversation going until you have the opportunity to respond personally.  Facebook offers Response Assistant with a customizable message. LinkedIn does not have an autoresponder, but they do have Quick Messages as an option. Twitter offers a Default Welcome Message, but setting it up is a little more complicated.

Acknowledge mentions and shares

When someone shares your post or mentions your business, don’t forget to say “thank you!” and demonstrate your good manners. If the reference isn’t complimentary, then it’s your opportunity to show off your conflict management skills. Responding promptly and politely to complaints, whether on social media or Yelp or other platforms, provides a record of your efforts to solve a problem for future customers to see. 

Start a conversation

Scan your newsfeeds to see what clients, prospective clients, and complementary businesses are talking about. Comment on their posts or, at the very least, “Like” them. Don’t forget that others will see those interactions as well, introducing you to new people. 

Today, with just a few clicks, we can get whatever we need without ever having to interact with real people. The effort to build personal connections could be a terrific differentiator for your business. Need help putting the “social” back into your social media marketing? Just give us a call – we’re happy to talk it over with you.

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

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Kate Gingold

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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