The impersonal world has become personal

How do I start a conversation with someone I’ve never even met?

That’s the question that plagues every social media marketing beginner, but the answer is a lot easier that you’d think.

When reaching out to people on social media channels you have every chance to learn a great deal about them ahead of time. These people spend a great deal of time and energy writing, podcasting, and making videos about the things they are interested in. Do a little research and you can find the keys to their hearts.

Look around on their blogs, listen to their podcasts, and read their tweets. When you introduce yourself you can come bearing information they are ready to receive. Bring them something that they love (information for the infophiles) and they will associate that love with you.

Social media marketing, digital PR, and the entire new media marketing world is about getting to know people and reaching out in a personal way. Work at making that connection. Show that the context of who they are matters to you, and that what you want to talk to them about matters to them. If you can manage that, then the good feelings you inspire will earn press that is real, hard won, and respected. Press earned in this way will resonate as honest (since it is) and will garner you more support in your brand, cause, or any other marketing venture.

The impersonal world has become personal. It’s time for you to become personal as well:

Go to where they are

They are on facebook, twitter, youtube, vimeo, blogger, wordpress, myspace, livejournal, personal blogs. . . Go to these places. Read, listen, watch, interact. Be as much a part of these communities as possible. Be real. Be you.

Listen to what they say

The people that you want to reach out to have put a lot of work into showing the world just what they are interested in. Make sure that before you reach out to them you do the research. Find out what they wat to know about. When you have something in that area to talk about, you’ll know who to bring it to. (helpful tip: blog directories are great for finding people http://blogcatalog.com)

Bring them your message

Once you’ve found the right people to bring your message to, bring your message to them. Make sure to bring that message to them on the mediums they use, email, blogs, twitter, youtube, etcetera. Go to them with your message, but be sure you’re bringing the message to the right people.

If you spend some time getting to know your audience, then starting a conversation with them won’t be hard at all. It’ll be like speaking to an old friend.

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