Developing meaningful relationships
When there’s over 4.5 billion people on social media, how on earth can we develop meaningful relationships when a lot of them just want to sell to and forget us??
Here’s a couple of ideas:
Connect with people in the comments
When you post something, do people respond to your post in the comments (and we’re not talking about those pesky “Wow we love your feed! DM us to work with us” bot comments…)? If they do, are you responding to them? We know that Zuck loves engagement, and he particularly loves when we’re carrying out conversations. This means that responding to comments are essential, because we’re showing him that our content is valuable, and we have important things to say!
This is where Call To Actions help. When people respond to those CTAs, make sure you give it a like, respond to it meaningfully (more than just a couple of emojis!), and maybe even take it to the DMs 😏
Connect with people in the DMs
Whilst sliding into DMs can have a couple of other connotations, DMs can be a powerful tool to develop meaningful relationships with your audience, followers, and like-minded biz owners! With Instagram CONSTANTLY increasing the functionality of DMs, it’s obvious that Zuck likes us to have a good ol’ yarn in the messages, and he’s always looking for ways to make it easier for us to do so (there’s even a ‘DM Me’ sticker that you can add to stories!). Here’s some of the ways that you can chat with someone in the DMs - there’s truly something for everyone:
Voice notes (HIGHLY recommend!) - sometimes you just want to talk it out, and you can do just that for up to 1 minute in one voice note!
Chat - traditional, easy, and straightforward, the messaging function is a classic, and doesn’t take too much getting used to. Just be wary that people know when you copy + paste stuff, so avoid templated messages (another reason why voice notes are gold - you can’t get more personal than a personalised voice message!)
Photos and videos - just want to show off your newest Starbucks mug, video your whiteboard brainstorming session, or just have a bit of face-to-camera conversation? You can do that!
Gifs - Our personal love language, gifs are a great way to inject humour into your conversations or respond with a visual of how you feel! You can’t go wrong with a good gif!
Bonus: You can also utalise quick replies! If you have a standard statement you often say, or find yourself continually retyping, you can set a ‘short cut’ in your DMs, so all you have to type is ‘ME’ and it will automatically punch out a paragraph like
‘Hey thanks so much for enquiring about the services that Gabbi J Digital offers! As a Social Media Strategist, I can help with everything from training and consulting, to full social media management, and everything in between! I’d love to hear a bit more about you, your brand, and how Gabbi J Digital can help!’
What a smart little tool!
Bonus 2: You can also video call and voice call people (which is much less intrusive than asking for someone’s number), making it easy to connect with people in real time, and have a quick chat if you need to talk through something in the moment.
If you ever want to DM someone, Zuck makes it hella easy! Just look for the little paper plane logo that is next to someone’s name in the story views page or hit ‘message’ in their profile to start the convo!
However you do it, developing those personal and meaningful connections is ultimately how to make the most of social media, but also how to get the algorithm working for you, rather than against you!
