Today's final addition to your social media tool belt (think of it more as that cool belt Batman had with everything from shark repellant to ninja stars): being social. Now this may sound simple enough, but you'd be surprised how many people completely ignore this step. Once you have your tiny little piece of the social media landscape all set up and running it is crucial that you actually use it to communicate with your audience. 

I find that the quiet individuals (the companies that will soon be left in the dust of the social media race) make one of two errors that result in their silence. Firstly, they are afraid to interact with their audience, quickly falling into the category of the faceless corporation. If someone writes a negative comment, don't be afraid to respond. If someone asks a question, especially a tough question, don't ignore it. Fear of taking on posts that may be challenging will usually result into your audience tuning you out. Interaction is key, it is not enough to just talk- you have to be a part of the conversation. 

The second type of quiet death (creative eh?) comes as a result of fear to say anything that may draw an opinion. Companies make the mistake of assuming that playing it safe means not recognizing or making comments on anything related to politics, religion, international events, taboo topics, different holidays, important sporting matches or anything too scary, too emotional or too challenging. Everyone else knows what's going on, you might as well say something about it. If there is a major political election you should say something, you don't need to out right endorse a candidate but feel free to remind people to vote, volunteer or just get informed. If a local tragedy happens don't avoid it and write about the weather, instead make an appropriate post or comment that will help your audience remember you're also human- and sometimes life just sucks. 

Regardless of what your approach is remember that in social media silence is deadly. 

      

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