Are you using social media the right way to build your audience? You will need more than a large following on Facebook to pay your bills. To be successful with your time and efforts, you need to build trust on social media and stop worrying about build a larger audience.
Thousands of artists have a presence on social media sites and are not seeing the results they were hoping for. There is a simple reason why businesses, not only artists, are not seeing results with their efforts on social media. People have no patience for advertisements.
How many times have you visited YouTube and get frustrated because a five-second ad pops up? People go to Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks to escape for a few moments. They do not want to be swamped with advertisements. They want to see something inspirational, motivational or entertaining. The last thing they want to see is, “Buy This!”
Start seeing real results by building your audience’s trust. Just like in real life, this will take time and effort. Here are some tips that will help you to build your audience’s trust and separate you from the rest.
11 Ways Artists Can Build Trust On Social Media
Listen
Everyone wants to be heard. Take the time and listen to what your audience is saying and how they are saying it. The best way to learn about someone is by listening.
This first step is so easy and often overlooked. You will be able to produce content your audience will engage with because you spent the time to learn what is important. What builds trust faster than acknowledging a person feelings and views?
The more you listen, the more your audience will want to start to get to know you.
Write For Your Audience
When you become a good listener, you will be able to produce content your audience enjoys. Writing for your audience will give you an advantage over your competition.
Most people and businesses do this wrong. They create content without thinking about their audience. In fact, they do not even know their audience. The readers will not be interested in the content and go somewhere else.
Think of yourself as an entertainer when you are creating content. You want to connect with your audience and have them stay entertained for as long as you can. You want your audience’s full attention from beginning to end and have them talking about you when they leave.
How do you do that? You create content for your audience. You will be able to do this better than anyone else because you have become a great listener. You will be building your audience’s trust by providing content they can relate to.
Don’t Advertise
The best way to lose an audience is by only providing content that asks them to purchase. Know one likes advertisements and no one likes to sit down with a salesperson.
People go on social media for an escape. It is a form of entertainment. Asking your following to pull out their credit cards and spend their money is not entertaining them. It is pushing them away.
The easiest way you can build someone’s trust is by not asking them for their money. You are probably asking yourself, “How can I sell my art if I don’t ask for them to purchase something?”
You will sell more by letting them come to you. Build your audience’s trust and talk to them like they are a person, not a dollar sign. Consistently provide them with valuable content they enjoy. Your audience will start to trust you, and they will want to do business with you.
Separate yourself from the rest, do not sell on your social media sites, build relations.
Share Your Mission
Build your audience’s trust by sharing your mission. Let your audience know what your goals are and produce content that supports your mission.
People are more willing to support a business that shares what their mission is. Building trust takes time. Everything you do will either build or lose trust. Let people know who you are and what you stand for.
Be Consistent
No one can say that they can trust someone from day one. Trust comes with time. Be consistent with everything that you post. This includes commenting back to someone’s comment.
Every time that you publish content ask:
- Does this support my brand?
- Does this support my mission?
- Does this support my views?
- Is this consistent with my other content?
Develop a strategy on when you will be publishing content and how often. Make your presence on a regular schedule. If you are inconsistent people will forget about you and you will have to start building their trust from the beginning.
Humor
Everyone loves to laugh. Humor can be an excellent way to build your audience’s trust. If you can make someone laugh, they will relate to you and like you.
You must be careful that you do not offend anyone with your humor. Have you ever noticed that some of the best comedians pick on themselves? They will point out their weaknesses and create a hilarious scenario about their struggles. This is powerful because people can relate to the comedian’s struggles but no one is offended because the comedian is speaking of themselves.
Humor can be a powerful marketing tool or a disastrous one. Be careful on how you use humor if you decide to incorporate it into your marketing plan.
Inspiration and Motivation
You have gained someone’s trust when you can inspire or motivate them.
Have you ever been inspired by someone’s words? Why were you inspired?
One of the reasons a person can inspire and motivate you is because they have built your trust. You have learned to trust them by investing time with them, or when someone else whom you trust believes in the person. It does not matter how the trust was built. What is important is that you believe in the message.
Would you take someone’s advice that you could not trust?
Build your audience’s trust and inspire and motivate them.
Be Unique
How can you be unique when other artists are creating the same style of art you create?
The answer is simple, be yourself. There is no one else like you. Let people know who you are.
You do not have to get too personal, but you will want to let people know your vision for your art business. Bring your audience on your journey from start to finish.
People will know when you are “fake.” Be proud of who you are and what you have to offer and let your audience connect with you on a personal level.
Engage In The Conversation
Communication builds trust.
When someone engages in your posts, respond back to them. Show that you appreciate that they took the time out of their busy day to comment on one of your posts.
Responding to comments will help you in several ways. The most significant benefit is that you will be showing the person you care about their thoughts and will encourage them to engage on other posts you publish.
Another benefit is other people will notice that you engage in conversations and they will want to chime in as well.
People love to share their thoughts and views. Acknowledge them, and you will have won their trust.
Be Honest
Nothing will build someone’s trust faster than just being honest. People will know that you do not have anything to hide if you are transparent. Of course, you will not have to share your financial data, but being open and honest with your vision and mission will go a long way with your following.
It is a good idea to allow people to have their views on your posts. Do not delete negative posts unless it offends someone else.
It is tempting to delete negative comments, however, by leaving those comments up will help you to build trust with a new audience. People that are new to your Business Page will see there was an issue and that you have listened, responded and are willing to do what you can to resolve the issue.
Not only have you made the customer happy but you are building trust with new people who have seen the transaction be resolved.
Be Accountable
We are all human, and we all make mistakes. We become better people by accepting we made a mistake and learning from the situation. There will be times you make a mistake with your business. You might ship an item to the wrong address, or miss a deadline. No matter what kind of negative publicity occurs from your mistake, hold yourself accountable on your social media sites.
The last thing that someone wants to hear when they are frustrated is an excuse. Be honest about the situation and hold yourself accountable. Apologize for any inconvenience the situation might have produced and try to come up with a solution that will rectify the mishaps.
People will always be more forgiven when you acknowledge your mistake.
Conclusion:
Social media sites were created so people can be social, not to sell a product. You can build a large following on social media sites if you use the platforms the way they were intended to be used. Build trust on social media and watch your sales grow.
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