People do business with those they know, like, and trust. Luckily, social media has opened up our ability to reach more people and build the types of relationships that will stay with potential customers until they are ready to make a buying decision. 

But if you’re merely going through the motions on social media and in your marketing, and you’re not sharing of yourself and your inspirations, you’re wasting your time. Here are a few areas you can work on to become more personable for increased sales.  

Your Slogan

Your slogan or tag line should not be comprised of fancy language or industry talk that no one understands. You want it to convey your message, but at the very basic it needs to speak to how you will solve your audience’s biggest problems. 

Check this one out:


 
You may not know initially what this company can do for you but you can infer they will remove all the time “sucks” out of your day and make it a whole lot better. It has a slightly snarky message mixed with a positive, “More Happy.” This message resonates with a lot of people in business who are not in control of their own schedules.
Use your slogan to convey how your business can solve a major problem for your audience and you’ll see increased interest.  

Show Your Personality on Social Media

Yes, sharing good content is important, but you don’t want to be robotic about it. Add commentary when you are sharing other people’s content and share things that are not all business. 

If you’re celebrating something, share it. Happiness can be infectious. People want to like those they do business with and it’s really hard for people to warm to robots – droids, are a different story. 

Use Evocative Imagery

Snapping a pic and slapping it on your website or social media profile is better than nothing, but think of your images as another way to connect. If you create eye candy for your audience to enjoy, they’re more apt to share it, and more likely to tell Facebook they want to see all of your posts.

Check out the pictures on the Poor Porker’s Facebook page. They’re delicious-looking enough to make you want to eat them. They’re likely to have inspired a number of trips to their business. Yes, the food looks delicious but the images are also gorgeous.

Produce Content That’s Fun

There are a few companies that produce content just for the fun of it and the entertainment value for their audience. They become known for these light hearted, serial type productions. Does the content inspire direct buys of their product? Nope. There’s no call to action. But what they do accomplish is multiple shares and views, which increases their reach and ability to be seen on sites like Facebook. 

This is a case of Machiavellian social media where “the ends justifies the means.” Facebook won’t show your content to people unless they interact with it. What better way to get people interacting than by entertaining them? Want to see an example of this? Check out Fast Companies videos, especially the awkward office scenarios.
A final tip about connecting with your audience: In order to connect with your audience, you have to know as much as you can about them. You can be as witty and charming as a romance novel’s leading character. but if you aren’t giving your audience things they will enjoy, there will be a disconnect between you and them that could hurt your sales. 

People want to identify with those they do business with. They want to feel like you understand them, their problems, and their needs. Before you go about trying to connect with them on an emotional level, you need to do some research as to who they are, what troubles them, and what they hope for most. Once you know those things, you’ll be able to reach them on a very personalized and emotional level. And those are the things loyalty is made of.

Christina R. Green teaches small businesses, chambers and associations how to connect through content. Her articles have appeared in the Midwest Society of Association Executives’ Magazine, NTEN.org, AssociationTech, and Socialfish. She is a regular blogger at Frankjkenny.com and the Event Manager Blog. She’s a bookish writer on a quest to bring great storytelling to organizations everywhere.