![\"istock_000003470462xxsmall41\"](\"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/iStock_000003470462XxSmall41.jpg\")
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As a social media \u201crobot,\u201d I communicate with countless different people on a daily basis\u2014people I\u2019ve never met in real life. It involves frequent generation of content, updates and responses (and ultimately a whole lot of typing). Though this process seems easy and mechanical, communicating with the public across social media platforms is all but robotic.<\/p>\n
Recently, I read an article on a study of the impact of human voice as applied to social media efforts and building a brand\u2019s image: its customer devotion and reputation. Not surprisingly, the study found that people are more apt to trust, commit to and be satisfied with companies who \u201cput a face\u201d to their blog posts, Twitter and Facebook pages.<\/p>\n
Seemingly light-hearted and easy-to-accomplish, this task involves a keen understanding of the company you\u2019re branding, as well as a thorough understanding of the public\u2019s perception of your brand. It\u2019s like online catering in a way.<\/p>\n
Your Twitter followers, Facebook fans (those who \u201clike\u201d your company) and the people engaging on your website\u2019s blog, are all your friends. They\u2019re also your customers\u2014but the difference is, online, you both actually have the time for a conversation, to connect. Whereas in the past, face-to-face customer queries were lost in the wind if they weren\u2019t answered at the moment they were asked. Social media platforms allow for documented, written interaction between brands-and-fans\u2014making it possible to speak to everyone individually, and tweaking your voice as so.<\/p>\n
Social media craftsmanship is a strand of DNA. Creatively constructing a human voice whilst catering to your brand and followers needs simultaneously is not something we\u2019re all programmed to do.
\nEvery single person interacting with your brand online is an individual with names, ideas, interests, and emotions. They\u2019re no robots.<\/p>\n
And although feeding Twitter is part of my robotic routine, in order to maintain brand reputation and increase trust, I pay close attention to the details of every individual I reply to, whether I\u2019m answering a question, replying to their tweet, thanking them, delivering interesting news and so forth. Oftentimes posting on Facebook I\u2019m offering information to several different groups of people, groups within those groups, more specifically: individuals within those groups. I have to be thoughtful, tactful and precise to share a message with all of them.<\/p>\n
One of the best practices is listening to your fans. Read their recent tweets, their profile, get an idea of their voice and then modify yours in a way that is relatable and respectable. As humans, (especially those of us with social media embedded in our DNA) we have a tendency to speak differently with different crowds of people, and our voice is even more particular towards specific individuals. We address our friends by first names and nicknames (and now screen-names, the new nicknames).<\/p>\n
I remember something my NYU professor of Internet Marketing told me on the first day of class: \u201cEngagement, interaction\u2026this is what opens doors, this is what allows for customer commitment, for trust. This is key to building a brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time to abandon the robotic tone of \u201cCompany. Must. Sell. Company. Is. Programmed. To. Sell\u201d and apply a proper voice with suitable human character: humor, charm, charisma, whatever it may be\u2014understand your audience. And remember: know the voice that fits your brand all the while.<\/p>\n
Reach through your Apple or PC and give your brand\u2019s fans a handshake. And tomorrow, a high-five.<\/p>\n
Seema Shariat is the Digital Marketing Analyst for the Imagemme New York City office.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a social media \u201crobot,\u201d I communicate with countless different people on a daily basis\u2014people I\u2019ve never met in real life. It involves frequent generation of content, updates and responses…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","category-miscellaneous"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/iStock_000003470462XxSmall41.jpg",150,192,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/iStock_000003470462XxSmall41-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/iStock_000003470462XxSmall41.jpg",150,192,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/iStock_000003470462XxSmall41.jpg",150,192,false],"large":["https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/iStock_000003470462XxSmall41.jpg",150,192,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/iStock_000003470462XxSmall41.jpg",150,192,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/iStock_000003470462XxSmall41.jpg",150,192,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":250,"uagb_excerpt":"As a social media \u201crobot,\u201d I communicate with countless different people on a daily basis\u2014people I\u2019ve never met in real life. It involves frequent generation of content, updates and responses...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":600,"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions\/600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}