5 Ways to Connect with Your Existing Social Media Fans

I wrote an article for iMedia that appeared in yesterday's edition. Here is what it said...

5 Ways to Connect with Your Existing Social Media Fans

Article Highlights:

• Here's how to find your fans and ensure they find you
• Learn why it pays to ask your fans questions
• Check out these strategies for deputizing some of your super fans

Ask yourself this question: Do I have fans or do I simply have a group of virtual acquaintances? You want fans. It doesn't matter if you are an athlete, a major brand, a politician, a musician, or just a regular person; it is great to have fans. Fans are excited about you; hey want to hear what you have to say; they want to brag that they know something about you that others don't. Fans make you feel special, and after all, we all want to feel special.

With fans comes responsibility. You have to engage them and make them feel important. Otherwise they'll leave you and become someone else's fans. And if you disrespect them, they will turn on you. Trust me: You don't want an angry fan!

Now, how do you turn that one fan into hundreds? You treat each fan like they are your only one by following these rules:

1. Tell a story
The first thing you have to do is put yourself in the place of your fans. Why would they want to listen to you or follow you? Because you are interesting. Because you tell the truth. Because you share your life, how you have lived, how you have failed, how you are human... how you are just like them. Because you impart knowledge that can make your fans better as a result of listening to you. Because you'll even share some personal scandalous stories that will make them blush.

Tony Hsieh at Zappos.com is doing a brilliant job of this. He has a great product, people trust his company, and they love listening to him. More than 300,000 fans follow him on Twitter, where he doesn't just speak about shoes but lets us inside his life, his travels, and his business.

2. Find your fans, and let them find you
If you are new to the world of social media, then you're probably wondering where to start. Should I write a blog? Should I have a Facebook page? Should I be on Twitter? Should I post videos on YouTube? The answer is yes to all. But you can't be everywhere... at first. The right mix is to be where your fans are and where you feel most comfortable.

If you are a musician, then you need a MySpace page because that's where bands have profiles. If you are an athlete who has little time to upload photos and write long blogs, then tweet like Shaq does. Are you a brand? Then you need to blog because people want to engage with you. You will also need a Facebook page because your fans are on Facebook -- everyone is. But don't stop there. Find the places where everyone is not, the places where only the few people that really care about you are online. If you are a race car driver, get on Infield Parking (it's like MySpace and Facebook, but only for people that love racing).

Once you are in one place, then you can be in a few others fairly easily. For example, I write a blog. When I write a new post, it sends a tweet to my Twitter followers and syndicates to my Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo pages.

3. Interact with your fans; communication works both ways
Way back in the old days (pre-2008) the dialogue between you and your fans was a one-way conversation. You spoke, and your fans listened. Fans interacted with each other, but you rarely participated. This was especially true for brands. Brands advertised and extolled their products' virtues, but didn't communicate with their customers (their fans). Not only were they ignoring their fans, they were missing a golden opportunity to get free market research.

Ask questions. Throw out a topic and let your fans discuss them. Ask for opinions about you and your product. Do they like it? Would they make any changes? Embrace criticism. Address issues. Explain that you will fix problems or at least explain why you can't.

Engage your fans. Have a conversation. Ask, listen, respond, and repeat. This is social media, now be social!

4. Understand you need help
In a perfect world you would respond to every one of your fans individually -- but how can you reasonably interact with that many people? In a blog post titled "1,000 True Fans," Kevin Kelly says if you have 1,000 fans pay $100 per year for your product, you'll have a healthy business. What if you are so good at engaging your fans that you end up with more than 1,000? Then you need help.

You need to deputize some of those super fans and make them authorized voices on your behalf -- brand evangelists! Help foster breakout groups of fans who want to talk about you by lending your support and your voice to their efforts. Help them create Yahoo or Google groups and build pages on social networks like Facebook or MySpace. Give them photos, videos, contest prizes, or exclusive news so they can set up branded extensions of you through platforms like Ning.com.

One of the best examples of this is the phenomenon behind the "Twilight" book series. When Stephenie Meyer was trying to gain awareness for her vampire novel, she started a blog. Eventually the size of her following grew so large that several fans started their own blogs and social networks to talk about "Twilight." To lend authenticity and support to these fans, Meyer embraced these new branches to her brand's tree and provided them with exclusive information directly from her. I think we know how this turned out!

5. Reward your fans
Your fans donate their time to follow and support you. Reward them. Give them props and tell them their ideas are great. Give them free stuff. Literally send them things you have laying around the house. If you are a brand, send them coupons for deep discounts on your product. If you are a musician, give them free music or write a song just for them. When you can't give rewards to everyone, create contests, sweepstakes, and promotions that allow your fans the opportunity to win something from you. Thank your fans for following you.

Your fans love you, but that love is conditional. That love is fleeting and needs to be nurtured. The world of digital social media makes it possible to nurture your fans and keep them close. Take care of your fans, and they will take care of you.