Social media isn’t just for status updates and scanning a friend’s vacation photos. Sharing relevant and interesting articles with prospects, clients and centres of influence (COIs) can help you grow your business.
Social media provides connections for your clients and prospects to reach out and comment, says Jay Palter, principal with Palter Social Media Strategies in Edmonton. “When they do that, you need to seize that opportunity,” he says. “They could become a more active source of referrals in your business because they get to know you better and appreciate what your value offering is.”
Palter uses the term “curation” to describe the gathering and sharing of information through a social-media network. Similar to the way a museum curator gathers artifacts and knowledge, he says, curating articles to share online adds value and helps you to position yourself as an expert in the eyes of your professional contacts.
Follow these tips to use curation as an online strategy to build relationships with prospects, clients and COIs:
> Choose the right platform
Some social-media platforms are better suited to sharing business information than others.
For example, Palter says, Facebook is more personal. Sharing links to financial articles may be seen by those connections as a sales pitch.
Twitter and LinkedIn, he says, are more suited for sharing business-related articles.
> Make it a habit
Set a routine to make the most of your curation strategy.
Use the time between meetings to look for online articles that might interest your professional connections.
You may find articles to share via LinkedIn or Twitter right away, he says. Or you might place some in reserve to distribute either later that day or during the week.
> Stay consistent
Quality and consistency are essential to building relationships online.
Consistency doesn’t mean focusing on one topic, Palter says. Rather, you should focus on the content of the articles to ensure they are relevant to your connections.
The frequency of your shared information is also important. For example, it’s not uncommon Twitter users to tweet five, 10 or even 15 times a day. While it’s not necessary to be this prolific, you should commit to posting online frequently and consistently throughout the week.
> Share your opinion
Give some context to the articles you share to add value for your connections.
When you share a link, Palter says, explain why you think it’s important and why your contacts should take the time to read it. This can be difficult with Twitter, which limits your message to 120 characters. LinkedIn offers a little more space so you can write in a more natural tone.
Blogs are a great way to expand on an article and to offer an opinion on the issue at hand.
> Get a little personal
Use the articles you share to make a personal connection with your professional network.
“People do business with people,” Palter says. “The intimacy that comes from knowing you is what fuels their sense of trust in you.”
Share articles related to a particular interest of yours, he says, such as sports, charities or community initiatives, to let clients know you better.
Just be careful not to share too many details, Palter says. People don’t want to know everything about your personal life.