Social media has broken down barriers. It has changed what we expect to know about a brand and how we communicate with a company. Maybe that is why people love seeing pictures of your kids dancing, your cat being part of your family, what you had for lunch and how your day is going.
I run into past and present customers who have told me how much they love seeing my posts about my chickens, cats, and photos of my girls dancing. I’m just being real and sharing my day. Being transparent is what makes our brands personal and unique.
Every once in a while I hear from a disgruntled business owner who finds themselves paralyzed into inaction on social media. They dislike seeing other people post about their lunch and so they can’t force themselves to engage on social media. Breakfast, lunch and dinner posts are always, and I mean always, the example they give. Okay, so you hate seeing other people post about lunch, so maybe you shouldn’t start out by posting about your lunch, but you have to get started somewhere. If you allow your focus on what you don’t like stop you, then you will never give anyone a chance to discover what they do like about you.
You have to get personal. You can’t just promote, promote, promote and think that people will stay engaged with your brand. Seriously, I get enough ads; I don’t want to see what is for sale again. Please, sprinkle in some news about your day, or maybe even about your lunch. When I see the kids of small business owners pictures on Facebook beaming after a gymnastic meet, baseball game, football game, dance completion, horse-riding lesson, and so forth I feel invested in their lives. Trust me – y’all have all invested in the dance training behind that amazing leap in the photograph above.
Some days it feels like Facebook is just full of bad news, political arguments, and promotional material. I just want a bit of good news, a piece of personal information that doesn’t remind me of our differences of opinion, but our similarities in gastronomical choices, or pets, or dreams. The trick is finding the right balance.
Well said Kayla! And buying from small business owners means “You are” part of the fabric… of success.
Definitely.
So true. I actually disengage from people who are constantly trying to sell me something. I will “unlike” companies and “unfollow” them. I get enough spam, I don’t need to see it all the time from them on social media. I do love the family pictures, the behind-the-scene pictures and so on.
I love the behind the scenes pictures too.
Thank you for this tip! I will definitely try to engage our customers more with who we are as people.
Awesome! You and your customers will enjoy it.
Well said! Quality and authenticity go a long way.
Indeed!
Yes! Yes! Yes! Love when I can feel the personality of a brand or service. It’s so important to remind people that there is a person behind the jar.
I love what you said, “It’s so important to remind people that there is a person behind the jar.” So true! There is a person, a family, a life behind every small business product.
Great advice, thanks for sharing. I love seeing the family pictures as well.
The non product pictures make the product three dimensional for me. There is more than just a product — there is a story.