Social Media: Introductions and Perseverance Can Bring (Little) Victories

Social media create a counter-intuitive tension. On the one hand, we use social media to create relationships with family, friends, clients, and like-minded peoples of our hobby/political party/aesthetic choices/etc. Relationships take time and are sometimes built on what, at the moment, feels like a rushed introduction or awkward interaction. On the other hand, modern media encourages us to think of news – indeed, of all information – as being reinvented every twenty-four hours. So when I get a ‘Friend’ request or retweet a great article I feel somewhat dislodged from the very information I am trying to disseminate. If one has that sense of disconnect, it might be worth remembering the differences in scale that might exist between one’s social-media persona and one’s self. Then let time work its magic through that scale, even if the social relationships seem few.

Social interaction means some form of introduction. Charlene Kingston runs the “Social Media DIY Workshop” from Phoenix, AZ, and she recently posted a useful article about creating a “Social Media Passport” designed to ease your clients into your social media that your business or nonprofit has been working so hard to establish. The introduction is not difficult, but it takes a bit of planning and lining up, as you do not want each introduction on each medium to be different or confusing. First, collect the specific addresses of each of your SM accounts (NOT the addresses of the social media services), then collect the relevant SM logos for the sites your organization uses. These icons have evolved and multiplied exponentially in the wild, so take a few moments to look for a collection of icons that match your social media and match the style and feel of your website and business card.

Ms. Kingston also reminds us that the social media may be on line, but the introduction to your customers need not be. Put the icons on your restaurant’s menus or the van of your pet-washing services, or even on receipts and business cards. Let people know your organization is committed so such outreach, even if they can not immediately access the outreach.The goal is to have them think of your business, and to recall that you are communicating via the social-media portals you have chosen. Soon the direct connection will be made, and can be cemented with a fine product/service and the reinforcing contact information you have posted throughout your materials.

Ms. Kingston’s Social Media Passport provides a useful set of guidelines to advertise the small things to encourage advertisement of the big things. But remember that what we are building in the mean time are relationships, and relationships need time to blossom. Do not be discouraged if your initial outlay of effort to set up your SM passport seems to return little business at first. Some of our closest associates in real life came from extra investment of time and reinforcement of mutual interests. The technologies of Social Media might push us to think that things will be different in the digital sphere, but they really are not. Set up your introductions, be persistent with reminding your audience of your presence, work with them and offer just that bit more. In good time a few of those introductions will pay big dividends.