Social Media Summit: Social Body Language seminar

15, Oct. 2014

presented by Bryan Kramer

The Social Media Summit is in full swing for the month of October. I got to sit in on a few online presentations. I’ll share some of what I learned along the way. Hopefully my findings will be valuable for you to navigate the social media sphere more effectively.

Fact: 93% of communication is based on nonverbal body language (source: Forbes)

So, how will you communicate something in a meaningful way if— as a i.e. Community Manager— everything is told via digital interfaces? According to Bryan Kramer, it is with Social Body Language.

What is social body language?

How you interact online without the context of your offline behaviour.

The key and important points:

• One way conversations are dead.
• Advertisers, marketers, –people who communicate to other people –must actively listen to the individual’s feedback and comments.
• Everyone has a voice now, so it is important to rise above the white noise and be heard.

Speaking from personal experience as a Community Manager, brands must represent themselves in an authentic and honest manner.

What does that mean?

Know who and what you represent – be proud of it! Know your brand inside and out (its history – the good and bad). Understand its values and WHO it values — as in – who your key audience members are. Then craft a tone and voice for your brand. As in, if the brand were a person, who would it be? How would he/she react in different situations. Most importantly, why should others listen to this person? How does your brand add value to someone else’s life. You must know how to communicate this consistently to your audience.

According to Bryan Kramer, the best thing you should offer is a ‘Mind Break’— content that will alleviate the daily stresses and boredom of life. so DON’T share boring or repetitive content (52% of people stop following for this reason) but DO share entertaining content.

Another fact: Only a mere 14% of brands are connecting with fans and being listened to.
So – YOU must do the active listening and engage with people.

Build lists and define people for specific purposes— you’ll never miss important information from them.

Invest in listening tools such as Radian6 so you know who and what your audience interests are– as well as when and how often to connect with them.

Lastly, respond to consumer feedback and do NOT be fake or insincere about it!
According to Kramer, 86% of online feedback is missed by brands. That’s a LOT of people you’re ignoring— especially if they are personal/ brand influencers who can boost your online social authority
Reiterating Kramer’s point again: Be authentic in order to gain credibility in the digital sphere. People can sniff out a fake or those who are trying too hard.
Stay ahead of the curve, plan your topics and leave room for content that’s trending. Whatever is interesting and relevant to your brand, you should be injecting this into the conversation.
i.e. Does your brand care about the local food movement? Then maybe you should be talking about Farmer’s Day. Then>> get your fans to listen and care too. Caring about your cause about means that these people have invested their time and energy into you. So don’t squander it. Or you can just as easily lose their loyalty.