Understanding the psychological impact of social media to nurture relationships [Infographic]

Going Social - what does it do to your brain?

Gone are the days when we received advice from our friends and neighbours on a ocial media treet corner, or perhaps at the most recent neighbourhood block party because face-to-face conversations are becoming a thing of the past. I must admit that I have texted my friends from the next room on more than one occasion.

Back when I was an adolescent, baby boomers like myself grew up with telephone conversations with a phone which was anchored to the kitchen wall, and further restricting us with a twisting and tangled cord. Now landlines are also becoming extinct with almost half of us ditching them completely for our wireless and hand-held devices.

Enter the world of Social Media

This is where social media comes into the picture, as now our dialogues have shifted to these platforms. We no longer call a business, we are instead searching the internet and even more often we are seeking them online through social media.

It doesn’t stop there, the majority of shoppers are consulting the rankings and reviews found on social sites before making a purchase. Customers now expect businesses not only be present but also active on social media.

What should we do to nurture our online relationships? This infographic, 'Nurturing the Sales Funnel Using Social Media' gives us insight on how to master our use of social networking and understand how our brain engages with social media.

'Did you know that ten minutes of Tweeting can raise our blood levels which reduces anxiety levels, and apparently social media fuels narcissism!'

It points to six key strategies:

• 1. Awareness: Create compelling articles and run targeted ads.
• 2. Interest: Build a community, create a calendar and engage your followers.
• 3. Conversion: Offer an incentive on a landing page and collect emails.
• 4. Sale: Target your leads and use multiple venues to create interest in your products.
• 5. Loyalty: Repeat visibility and engagement.
• 6. Advocacy: Social recommendation.

After examining each point in greater detail, it continues on to describe how each of these strategies actually goes into motion with the marketer and customer.

What else can we do? Do your homework, gather information, do your research and be well informed. Check out a few of these tips for more effective social marketing:

• Look at the competition: It might sound sneaky, but take a look at what businesses or industries are doing online, that are similar to yours. See what is working for them and what doesn’t seem as effective. Don’t mimic their campaign or duplicate their ideas, but see if something similar will work for you and your business.
• Set goals and follow-up: If your objective is to simply gain more followers, keep track of your posts and see which are being 'Liked' and examine those that are being ignored. If something isn’t working, get rid of it and try new angles or approaches for those that are gaining attention.
• Be more visual to be seen: Imagery is a very effective way to be seen and more importantly engage with users. Post videos and photos on YouTube and link them to your social media networking sites. Videos and pictures from your events will help to humanize and personalize your brand image.

Running a more successful social media campaign can result in your company enjoying more sales transactions and ultimately bigger profits.