How to start a conversation in social media forums

Good pick up lines and ways to break the ice, to start conversations with strangers, is enough to make anybody’s palm break into a sweat – it’s also possibly one of the biggest obstacles to more people adopting social media marketing.

Genesis Interactive’s CEO, Manas Kumar, says there are few things more intimidating than the first words we say to a stranger – whether face to face or online in social media forums – and we all wish we could come up with witty and engaging things to say.

“Certainly when it comes to social media, you have an opportunity to think about it and plan it a bit better which, in some ways, is more pressure because people expect even better quality.”

Genesis Interactive recently launched www.cometseo.com, a cloud based search engine optimisation application that simplifies ‘the getting found’ process for website owners. One of the features CometSEO’s offers is to trawl through social media websites, dropping conversation starters.

“Once somebody responds to your so conversation prompt, for example on Twitter, the user is alerted and can pick up the conversation from there. However, the challenge is still coming up with something to say that will break the ice.”

Bearing in mind that conversation starters are merely a way to open a dialogue with customers, website visitors and referral sources, Mr Kumar offers three tips on how to generate engaging conversation starters:

1. Express a common frustration, one that your customers may identify with, but be specific i.e. “dentist costs are too high in New Zealand!” 2. Ask for feedback or thoughts on a particular product. For example, when Genesis launched CometSEO, the company tweeted for SEO specialists to “give it a test drive and tell us what you think ”. The company enjoyed a huge response and discussion with those that did. 3. Say something inspirational. It’s a good idea to use an existing quote that resonates with you or your business, or even something you’ve thought of i.e. ‘why is it I know what to do, but never do it?’

“The key to doing business, getting people to your website, is prompting conversation. Engage first, and the selling will take care of itself.”

ENDS

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