8 Ways to Connect With Your Audience

Your online brand is the way consumers can connect with you. By providing a platform where you ask questions, respond to customers, and tell your brand’s story, you give users a way to connect to your world. Not only does that increase engagement rates but it helps customers recognize how important they are to you.

1. Ask

The best way to show customers you care is to ask them questions about the brand. Do they like the brand? What could you be doing better? Is the FAQ page detailed enough? Asking your audience questions not only shows them you’re interested in their thoughts but provides you with valuable insights. Once asked, you can take the input you receive and implement it to your website and increase user experience. 

So–how do you ask? There are several ways to ask your customers what they think. You can do it through polls, online surveys, or questionnaires on social media or your site. One way to maximize this interaction with your audience is following up with a “thank you for your input” email.

2. Respond

When a consumer takes the time to post on social media about your product or service, it is of the utmost importance you respond. If someone else posts on their own feed about your brand, it opens up your product/service to everyone they interact with. Recognizing that consumer posts are important to your brand, will make your audience feel valued. Plus, it will build brand reputability and SEO. If the comment was positive, think about reposting it on your own feed. 

On the flip side, let’s say someone negatively posted about your brand on social media. You should still respond! A negative situation online is the perfect way to show your customer service skills. By taking the time to reply and address the issue, not only will your customer feel heard, but others will be able to see on a public platform how you address issues.

3. Video

Having videos up on your social media and website will help users understand your brand. According to Marketing Insider Group, 94% of businesses believe video helps consumers better understand their product/service. Utilize video to explain aspects of your brand to your target market. Since users are more engaged with video than text, this is a great way to get important messages across.

TIP: One idea for a video is taking users behind the scenes of what makes your brand unique. Being able to see what goes into building your brand can help your target audience build a connection and sympathize with you.

4. Community

Building a community where customers can talk to other customers doesn’t only help your connection but helps them connect with other brand-loyal customers. This could be a great way to turn potential customers into actual customers. Many social media platforms provide features for users to build communities on their pages. For example, LinkedIn has a feature called LinkedIn Groups. This feature allows an individual to create a group on LinkedIn and apply group rules. This would allow you to build a safe space where consumers could talk about your brand or issues, developments, and happenings in your industry.

5. Giveaways

Another great way to connect with your audience is to give them something tangible. If you have a physical product, this is a great opportunity to market and connect with your audience. Drive your social media marketing efforts by letting customers know if they use your brand hashtags that they’ll be put in a raffle for a free product. Another option that could gain more traction is working with influencers from your industry to promote the product. If you don’t have a physical product you can always purchase a general gift card with a note written by your brand. However you decide to do it, make sure you have clear instructions, so the giveaway is a positive experience for everyone involved, your brand included!

6. Collaborate

Just as your audience would love to get gifts, it’s just as important to get them involved. There are two main ways you can do this. The first is asking their opinion on a new product line or adding a new service. For example, let’s say you make meme stickers. Hold a poll and see what your target audience would like to see next in a product line.

Another way to collaborate with your audience is to collaborate with another brand from your pool of customers. Let's say one of your customers bakes cookies. So you decide to collaborate with them and make a line of cookie stickers. Not only does this show that you’re willing to work with your audience, but it also allows you to attain new customers.

7. Persona

Connecting with your audience is all about building a relationship. This is so much easier to build from person to person versus person to product. Your target audience will connect better to your brand if they have a persona to connect with. Make sure your personal touch is being communicated in every digital marketing effort. Whether through social media, email, or content marketing, your unique touch needs to be there. In addition, it helps to have a face to your brand. Telling your story through blogs or a contact page will help your audience relate to you that much more.

8. Timing

Timing is everything, even in your marketing strategy. How can you connect with your audience if they aren’t online when you are? Or if they don’t see it? Social networks run on algorithms. They take what they think is relevant to users and present it to them. Timing is included in the algorithm. If you post when users are more active, you have a better chance of your audience actually seeing your post. While each industry is different, there are some general guidelines on when the right time to post is.

Timing is just as important when it comes to your website as well. While most of your web pages won’t have frequent updates, Your blog should be updated as often as possible. Deciding which day to post blogs will affect how many people are able to see it. To that point, frequency per month is just as important. Neil Patel, an expert marketer, recommends a minimum of sixteen articles a month. This can drive up to 3.5 times more traffic. Keep these kinds of metrics in mind when thinking of the timing and frequency of your social media campaigns and blog postings.

How Can Sav Help?

Sav’s website builder has tons of features to help connect your small business with your target audience. Use features like built-in Facebook likes, social icons, and Disqus comments to strengthen your website and social media presence.