Having a strong and loyal online community is something that can help startups in growing at a rapid pace. The more they talk about your business over the internet the more you are being promoted. This could be one of the most cost effective methods of creating a buzz around your startup business.
Here are some tips for those startups who haven’t been so successful in their efforts for building an online community or don’t know how to approach for it.
Find Places Where You Are Talked About: You are definitely talked about on the internet whether you know it or not. It would be a good start to first find the places where users talk about your products. If you see that they are talking about you over twitter then starting from there would be a good start.
Know The Users: There would be many types of conversations on the social media regarding your company. Some will be praising your services while others might be complaining or talking about the services provided by your or your customers. You need to observe and find the users who are involved in conversations about your services and then start working on them. Even if they don’t know about your company but are interested in services that you provide, you can start talking with them. Thus you will be able to set the foundation upon which your online community can grow.
Include Social Options: You need to make it really easy and simple for users to connect socially with you. Give them plenty of options to follow you over the social media channels. Allow them to tweet and share information if you really want your social community to grow. If you just gave it some time you will be amazed to see the number of people who will step up to engage socially with you.
Be patient: An online community is not developed overnight. It will take some time and you should understand this. Don’t let your efforts get affected or reduced due to slow response. There might even come a time when you may feel that the conversations are not natural and users are not really talking on their own. This is the phase when you need to be most patient and continue your efforts religiously.
Give Something To Your Community: An online community will give a lot of benefits and you are expected to return their favor. Try to be there for your community members whenever they need you. Many would have questions, queries and suggestions for you. You have to provide solutions for their queries and answer their questions as professionally as possible. Help them out when they have a certain problem with your services. When they offer you suggestions, listen to them as they are the ones who are using your services & products and could offer some really useful suggestions.
All startups should make efforts to build an online community through social media channels as it can propel your business to amazing heights if handled properly.
Guest Author Bio:
Ronald Justin is a social media marketing expert and likes to read novels on variety of topics. Currently, Ronald is associated with Xicom Technologies, specializing in Web Development Outsourcing and mobile application development services. Xicom offers meticulous business solutions to its international clients through software and Web Application Development Services.