Yesterday we discussed methods to follow up after an event. I covered the standard, phone, email or snail mail.
But what about social media? It’s all the rage. Does it have a role in follow up?
Yes and no.
It can be used to schedule follow up meetings. I’ve used it that way before with someone who seems to prefer Twitter to email. When I got a response back from a direct message days ahead of an email response, I got the hint.
Follow up after a tweet-up or other social media event makes a lot of sense to be done through social media. But I would check first. Not everyone on Twitter or Facebook checks frequently enough throughout the day to make it useful.
Where social media excels is in researching the person you just met. Some basic research can make your follow up more targeted and personal.
I met someone last week at an event. We had agreed I would shoot him an email to schedule something. In the first exchange, his signature line showed he had published a book. I clicked through the link and poked around. Turned out the link to buy his book on Borders was a dead link. I made a point of telling him that in my next email.
Guess who just established herself as a thorough person who cares? And I found a good book to read. If only the darn thing was in e-format! Ah well, can’t have everything.
Checking someone’s website isn’t exactly using social media, but the same principles apply. Looking for a Facebook fan page or a Twitter account can give you some good information about the other person. It can give you an opening conversational topic that is more interesting than the weather.
I once used social media to check on someone I was going to meet at an event. I knew he was potentially a good contact, and I wanted to have more to say to him than “want to meet for coffee.” I really liked some of the things I found, and based on my research, I was able to give him a quick testimonial to someone else at the event.
Think he was willing to meet with me?
There’s a lot of information out there. Used wisely, it can shorten the time to build a “know, like and trust” relationship with a new contact.
By the way, this is my 100th post. I almost can’t believe I’ve had that much to write. And I still have lots of post ideas sitting in Evernote waiting to be written. Not running out of ideas any time soon!
Thanks to everyone who has read and commented. You’re the reason I’ll be writing 100 more. And another 100 after that!
Tags: Follow up, social media