Do You Want Social Media Influence? – Go All Popeye and Take the Spinach Test!
How the heck can spinach have any effect on your social media influence?
It goes without saying that if you are using social media for business then you desire influence in your chosen field or niche. Let’s be honest, the more influence you have the more people will take notice, the more people that take notice, the more relationships you can develop.
Why Would You want Social Media Influence?
Apart from the reasons already discussed above, if you are deemed a Social Media influencer then studies report that when you share a link your open rate will increase 400%! If you add commentary, the open rate of that link you share will increase by a further 20% to 500%.
The fact that you are reading this suggests that you have a business interest in social media and you would like to become a social media influencer.
You would like your tweets, Facebook shares or your online copy to be opened, read and shared by hundreds if not thousands of people.
How Can You Increase Your Social Media Influence?
It is just natural that those who want to learn something look to those that already have that skill or knowledge. That is no different to how it works online. People who are just getting started watch, learn and listen how people who already have influence online operate in social media and what methods they use.
This might make sense – somebody who has social media influence showing somebody else how they arrived at that level of influence. So you watch webinars, read eBooks, blogs and articles. Some of the information is useful and you start to get a better picture of how social media really works.
In fact this approach “what works for one, works for another,” does not ring true and here’s why:
Visualize this: You are standing at a super market queue. In your hands you have the following:
- a pack of cookies
- a bumper pack of potato crisps
- water
- A chocolate cake
- Brown Rice
- 2 Litre bottle of fizzy drink
- A bag of spinach
What message do you think that puts out to people about your diet?
It’s healthy? It’s varied? I don’t really have a specific diet?
What if you add a filter to the items in the list? The filter being that your mission is to get fit and healthy, and as part of that mission you have identified eating healthy and only buying healthy food at the supermarket.
Now when you go around the supermarket, before you put an item into the basket you ask yourself, “Does this fit with my healthy eating plan? Does this item help my diet?” If the answer is yes, you add it to the trolley. If the answer is no, you put it back and move on.
So when you get to the check out your basket only has the water, brown rice and spinach?
Image by SurvivalWomen via Flickr
What do you think people looking at your basket will say about your diet then? What in turn does that say about you?
Not only will you spend less time and money in the supermarket, but to anyone else in the queue they will look at you and be able to say unreservedly,
“That person is a health freak” or “that person eats really well” or “that person follows a healthy living plan”
It is clear what your persona is all about and what you stand for, and when that happens you naturally become more approachable to people who follow the same belief system. Someone may come up to you, tap you on the shoulder and say,
“I notice you are into healthy eating. What do you think of……….”
Bingo, you have suddenly attracted somebody who is interested in what you do and how you do it. That single engagement could lead you to developing a long term relationship. That relationship all stemmed from the fact that it was obvious to other people what you stand for, and on social media, relationships are the capital that build influence.
Don’t get me wrong I am not saying that you should never indulge in a chocolate cake, a glass of fizzy pop or cookies. What I am saying is stick true to what you believe in. The closer you can stay to your social media marketing objectives, the easier it is for others to identify with you.
The key takeaway is this. If you want to be seen as a person with social media influence in your niche, attract relationships and have your links and content viewed 400% more, then stick to one or two topics. Stick to what you believe in. Talk about things that are relevant to your business and niche!
The more you digress, the more people will become confused and the more your message will become diluted in a stream of a million other messages.
Social media influence is not about what you say or even how you say it. Social media influence is defined by why you are on social media in the first place, and if you don’t know why that is then how can you expect anyone else to engage with you?
Main image by LindsPetrol via Flickr
About
James Debono is a small business owner and Internet entrepreneur. James dedicates his time to helping other small business owners leverage the power of the Internet to drive business growth and positive change. Click here Join James Debono on Google+
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Social influence involves much more than a popularity contest. Actual influence is composed of the ability to influence opinions, outcomes, and actions. If you are responsible for online PR for your company, or are interested in promoting yourself on the web, it is essential that you are as transparent as possible. People become fans and buyers when they can relate to or form a connection with the spokesperson or can apply meaning to what they stand for.
Mobila C. recently posted..Mobila bucatarie. Bucatarie la comanda
Very very true.
Social media is a people to people business, it is about relationships, trust and mutual respect.
Thanks,
James
I agree that you have to stay as transparent and as honest as possible when representing your business in social media. Brand managers and PR people have to be very careful here – the door swings both ways. Although social media can be a great way to nurture a fanbase and build brand recognition, all it takes is a single errant Tweet or one off-color comment on Facebook to sink your entire brand. It’s difficult to attract devoted followers, extremely easy to attract a legion of haters.
I think the most important aspect of social media is that you need to benchmark, test and verify the results. Most people probably don’t know how good social media can be for their business, and many don’t realize how effective social media is. Without a way of measuring the success of social media, they are blindly using that form of communication without realizing the effect it has with their customers.
Becca recently posted..Grout Cleaning Wyndham Vale
Hi James,
I Do agree with you – Your social media influence can and often is changed by your online activities and the Digital Footprint you leave behind that others can find. People tend to forget that even private data is not so private in the deep web and almost anything can be found if searched hard enough. A person needs to be vigilant to what is being said online and to whom it is accessible. This is important to keeping a positive online presence and authority.
And yes, I definitely agree with you – having a good or large influence in your niche is very important and worth building, even if it takes you a lot of time in the initial beginning and sharing to a targeted community is key to increase the influence of your website, brand or personal persona.
Anton Koekemoer recently posted..Why many businesses are still afraid of social media marketing (memeburn) done
Social media websites are very popular these days and they can have a huge impact on the business.They have the potential to influence opinions, outcomes and actions as Mobila has rightly said.It is very important to measure our efforts at such social networking sites so that we can know where we are standing.
Hi Harry,
It is important to know what is being said online.
People trust third party reviews and recommendations from people they don’t.
Online Reputation Management is a big deal and business should take the time
to understand how they are positioned online.
Thanks for your comment,
James
Thanks for sharing some of the great ways to increase social media influence.Observing people who already have got the influence can be quite useful technique.There are also many other methods for gaining some influence.Also watching webinars, reading ebooks can be helpful and serve the purpose.
Jack recently posted..Swanbourne Extension
Listening to others and being active is crucial to becoming successful online.