7 Tips to make your brand more conversational on social media

Making brand communication conversational can help businesses stand out amidst the clutter of food images and cat videos.

It is becoming increasingly important for a brand to not seem like a bot while interacting with potential customers. They can neither seem too remote nor too casual in their communication. The trick is to hit the right amount of conversational in your brand communication over social media. It could be a simple thought-out reply in the comments or a well-crafted tweet, it's all about being real, empathetic, and as close to a real person as possible. This, without going overboard, of course.

Answer Like A Human

Automated instant messaging can be a boon as well as a bane. On one hand, people can get quick replies to their queries. On the other, there is a chance the bot being used may not understand the query well or there may be some linguistic issues that would pose as a hurdle. It is thus important for brands to closely monitor such conversations and have a human oversee the process. Also, the data being collected from such tasks need to be used to make the automation aspect of the chat more human-like.

Use them Emojis

A significant number of people use emojis in their day-to-day communication over social media. Some brands do too. It helps cut across demographics and make your communication more inclusive — they talk like us, they are just like us! Emojis, well used appropriately, can add a lot to a plain copy. Every tiny icon means something and when paired with a good copy, can help expand the list of possible meanings (polysemy) in a piece of communication.

Leverage Live Interactions

There is great power in going live and interacting with people in real-time. With a rise in the number of live audio options like Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse, more and more avenues are opening up for brands to insert their agendas in casual conversations. This, without being overbearing, of course. Live interactions are more spontaneous and can facilitate one-on-one interactions with potential customers, reassuring them, solving their doubts.

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Nurture Your Community

Every brand has a community. It can be the old customers as well as ones with the potential to invest in their products. It is this group of people that can be nurtured into those who are loyal to the brand. It's almost like creating a fanbase of sorts — advocates that can get the brand more people in their fold. It will involve regular communication and plenty of incentives — you have got to make people feel cherished. To let them know you care about them.

Social Media Surveys

Surveys are a great way to gauge consumer sentiment. On social media, data and insights can be garnered with the help of Stickers, Polls, and even Likes and Comments. Any interface that allows a brand to get followers to answer questions and share inputs, with as little effort as possible, is a great way to collect such data — and depict itself as a receptive brand. This data can then also be used to tweak strategies to suit what the followers like.

Give Out Information Easily

While it is true that having a person DM the brand for price or sending them the price when prompted in comments can lead to a direct conversation, there is also a risk of losing a potential customer this way. With so much information readily available for people to browse through, customers may not ask for the price unless they really love a product. It helps to slip in all possible details for people to make a quicker decision in one scroll. Sometimes being slightly less conversational can do a brand great good.

Don't Force A Conversation

It can be really tempting to be a part of every possible trending conversation. However, your should show some restrain — remember that not every trend is compatible with your brand. Creating posts around such topics can do more harm than good for your brand. In such times, brand custodians should concentrate on original campaigns that are well-thought-out from scratch rather than piggybacking on some trend. It can go a long way in creating brand communication that stands out.