When you’re using a business social media account, it’s important to not abuse the relationship you’re trying to cultivate with your customers. If your posts aren’t reaching customers where they’re willing to listen, then they may start blocking you altogether, and you’ve lost that opportunity. Here are a few tips for how to keep your customers attention (and make the most of it) on facebook and twitter.

1. Be yourself. If you’re using a business name (e.g. @Finditlocal411), and speaking on behalf of your business, it can be easy to slide into marketing speak, and while you are indeed marketing and networking when you use social media, it’s important that you don’t speak in such a way as to alienate your audience by making them feel like they’re just viewing pop-up ads in their feed. Have fun. You don’t need to tell your audience what you’ve just eaten for lunch, but be sure to breathe some of your own personality into what you say. If people sense that the enthusiasm in your posts isn’t genuine, they’ll lose interest in you. Let your enthusiasm for your business and what you’re doing shine though.

2. Think like your readers. Ask yourself what someone who subscribes to your business’ feed might want to know from you. It can definitely be worth mentioning that you’ve just hired a new employee, or attended an exciting local event, but primarily people want to know about your products and services. If you’re in retail, it can be a nice way to gain customer loyalty to include a coupon code for your online subscribers periodically, that they can use when visiting your site or store.

3. Don’t be too personal. This may sound contradictory to #1, but it’s worth mentioning that you’re still using your feed to have a professional interaction with your customers and partners. Online interactions aren’t the place to discuss a personal tragedy, a surgery you’ve undergone, or anything which might make a perfect stranger uncomfortable to read.

4. Reach out. If you’re happy to be partnering with another firm, or if a supplier has really come through for you, or even if your staff just loves to patronize a local coffee shop, go ahead and use those as opportunities for outreach. Not only is it an important way to build relationships with your affiliates, showing your willingness to reach out like that is good for your business, because down the road, the businesses who benefit from your referrals are very likely to return the favor.

When you’re ready to dive into this important field of interaction with your customers, FindItLocal411 is there to help you, through our full suite of online marketing services. We’ll always take the time to find out who you are, and incorporate your personality and identity into everything we do, from newsletters to mobile marketing to visual customization of your Facebook and Twitter pages.