So, you’re an affiliate owner and need to grow your brand. Buying ads has gone the way of leg curls and you are stuck at about 100 followers. Here are eight ways to improve your facebook and twitter presence without looking like an attention-loving goon.
1. Be yourself. Let me clarify that. If you’re awesome, be yourself. If you’re uninteresting and lame, find something else to do. My buddy at Swing This Kettlebell Studio told me, “Don’t worry about losing people on Facebook. My goal is to lose five people who don’t really groove with me and gain one loyal follower.” Face it, people are going to find out your training style and personality the first time they meet you. Let potential visitors know who you are so you’re not wasting your time with lame-o’s who think they want to be a badass.
2. Positivity brings the boys to the yard. You know who gets unliked faster than Dan Bailey’s “Diane” time? Negative nellies who post passive-aggressive updates about other training methods and gyms. Seriously, people hop on facebook to check in on friends. Keep it positive and keep it directed to your members. They follow you; direct your warm-fuzzies right to your people.
3. Ask open-ended questions. Social media is a place to start a discussion and get your followers participating. (And, hey, when they get talking, all their friends see that they’re engaged with your page! Huzzah!) People are surprisingly open to answering questions you ask. Post a shot from your gym with the caption, “What would you change about this lifter’s form?” If you don’t ask them, they won’t comment.
4. Link, tag and locate. This feature is so underused in social media. Are you at the gym? “Check in”. You really love your New Balance Minimus shoes? Make sure they’re tagged. You may not get a sponsorship out of a tweet, but I guarantee you, they appreciate it! Give love to get love. It’ll come back, trust me.
5. When the fighting starts, the following stops. We’ve all had people blast our programming, pictures, opinions, etc. on the web for all to see. It gets awkward when you go back and forth with a troll. Get in a quick comment and get out – or don’t! The less you say, the better. People can spot someone picking a fight. You don’t need to point out the errors of a troll for others to identify the aggressor.
6. You’re the complaint department. When people whine nowadays (seriously, how old am I to use “nowadays” in a sentence!?), they complain online. The businesses who win back that customer and more are the ones who make their mistakes right. Somebody ordered a shirt and it’s not the quality they assumed? Make it right. Discounts, refunds, cool gear make all the difference. The buck stops with you. Further reading: Check out what Albany CrossFit did when somebody posted a negative experience on Yelp.
7. Post, wait and repost — then repost again. Most people aren’t on twitter and facebook eight hours a day checking tweets and feeds, so they may not see the WOD link or piece you wrote at 2:30 in the morning. Don’t be afraid to post again later in the day or again next week. People understand you’re trying to get some traffic and as long as you’re not spamming them (or for gods sake, including them in a facebook group) you’ll get the attention you deserve.
8. Don’t self-promote. Your gym is the greatest that has ever been. I got that. But your business’s social media outlets should be about your people. The successful social media types promote themselves through the success of their followers. Check out Tim Ferris and Gary Vaynerchuk. The love they get comes from the love they give to their successful followers. Retweet and share every good thing that is said about you. If you’re really a badass, people will promote for you.
Rich Vos is the owner and head coach of CrossFit Hustle in Northern Kentucky. He has been strength coach for high school, semi-pro and professional arena football teams. Rich is married with three children, two of which are miniature schnauzers.
CrossFit Hustle