Tips to Building a Loyal Following

In this week’s video tip of the week, I talk about the importance of building a loyal network of followers before you find yourself faced with a social media crisis. This may seem like a simple little task, but in reality, it’s a very powerful preemptive strategy – one that will prove itself extremely advantageous the day you find yourself faced with a social media crisis.

Don’t understand how? Check it out:

The benefits of having a loyal following in a social media crisis

Support
In the stressful event of a social media crisis you’re going to need all the help you can get! If you don’t have that network of support coming from those who count most in a crisis – your customers and fans – you’ll be left wishing you did.

Advocacy
The voice of your advocates can stretch far and wide and often helps to overpower the voice of your angry fans.

Control
Regaining control of your brand and the situation can prove to be quite difficult during a social media crisis. Meanwhile, having a loyal following who comes to your defense and  advocates for your brand can be extremely helpful in that regaining control department!

Forgiveness
When you have a real relationship with your market they feel as though they know you personally, which makes them want to forgive you – making your job of seeking forgiveness that much easier.

Audience
There’s nothing worse than getting attacked online and having no one to hear your side of the story. By having a loyal following of customers and fans, not only will you eliminate this problem, but you’ll have a group of targeted individuals who will be eagerly waiting to hear your side and what you have to say.

So how do you go about building this loyal following?

Within this week’s video tip, I share with you three really great strategies to put into place each and everyday to help you connect further with your audience and build a real and lasting relationship with them. They’re simple tactics that don’t take much of your time, but when done consistently, go a long way in strengthening those online relationships you share with your fans and readers.

Below I reiterate and elaborate on each of the 3 key strategies mentioned in the video, breaking them down and making it even simpler for you to put this critical preemptive crisis strategy into action and start leveraging the power of a loyal following.

3 tips to building a loyal following, and how to put these tips into action!

Tip #1: Provide solutions to their problems
Do this and you’ll have them hooked – they’ll just keep coming back for more!

• Always focus on providing your audience with value
• Remember to answer the question “what’s in it for them”
• Give your best secrets, strategies, techniques and tips… for free!
• Periodically offer free reports or researched white papers

Tip #2: Be their biggest fan
Taking a few minutes everyday to do some of these things will prove to be well worth the effort:

• Comment on their blog
• Like their fan pages
• Follow them on Twitter
• Respond to the comments they leave on your channels
• Thank them for following you
• Retweet and share their content

Tip #3: Get to know them
The more dimensions and levels your relationships have, the stronger they will continue to grow:

• Ask them questions about themselves
• Share your own interests and hobbies with them
• Relate and connect on a more personal level
• Provide a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of every post that invites them to comment and share

When should you put these strategies into action?

You can do one of these things everyday, each time focusing on a different fan, or you can do several of these tips daily. The whole point is to focus on building valuable relationships with the people who have already shown interest in what you do by subscribing, liking or following your content. They’ve taken the first step. Now show them that it was well worth their time, by taking it a step further and adding value to the relationship. Trust me, you’ll be oh-so glad you did the day you find yourself faced with a social media crisis!

What do you do each day to build a deeper relationship with your network, and how has it proven to be rewarding for your company? Share your strategies with me below!