Social Media Made Simple: The 4 Steps 0
Whether you are a business or an individual there are many complex issues to wrestle with when it comes to social media. Often these can be overwhelming. Where to even begin you might ask?
Rather than be paralyzed, it’s often best to understand that there are four simple, yet critical, steps to social media which are outlined in the diagram below:
As showcased in the diagram, the four steps are:
1] Listen
2] Interact: Join the conversation
3] React: Adjust your product or service based on [2]
4] Sell
Companies often enter the social media fray and jump straight to step four, selling. This is the worst thing you can do, and it will not be effective. You need to start with step one which is listening. Without listening the other three steps will not achieve any degree of success. As many have said before me, there is a reason we have two ears and one mouth.
Notice in the diagram that the steps for the customer than happen in the reverse order of the company. If it makes it easier to grasp you can consider these steps 5, 6, 7, 8. Here the customer buys the product from the selling company. The customer’s first step is to LISTEN for what to expect and do with the product or service. They will then INTERACT with the product or service and REACT according to their experience (good/neutral/bad). The consumer’s reaction to the product or service will determine if they SELL for or against (the company/product).
That is the beauty of social media. As a company, if you appropriately engage in the four steps than the stairs act more like an escalator (pun intended) rather than a traditional stairway. It will create a positively circular motion, which, with the appropriate greasing (effort), will continue to take your product or service to the top.