When it comes to social media connections, quality is SO MUCH MORE important to quantity

When it comes to social media, it’s not able the number of “likes” or “follows,” it’s about how you use them.

Successful community managers need to interact with those who follow the page.

It’s not about selling, it’s about building relationships.

Relationships lead to brand awareness, the potential of new sales and your audience sharing your information with others.

I remember working in restaurants through the 90s in college where “if a customer has a bad experience, they share it with seven others” was drilled into my mind.

From a positive side in the social media world we live in today, how about the power of your customers sharing positive experiences online. There’s a lot of untapped resources here.

It’s important to understand that you have to give someone a reason to like your page.

Content is vital. The information you share must be interesting and fun.

In addition to content, what else can you offer your audience?

The answer may vary depending on your company or organization, but you need to give your audience a reason to listen.

EXTRA, EXTRA – Facebook unveiled a new feature which allows you to read your news feed as a personalized newspaper. Mashable has the details.

NOT VIRAL – A recent report from All Facebook indicates only 2 percent of Facebook posts are shared.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Friday’s View From The Pugh column features communications news and notes. E-mail viewfromthepugh@yahoo.com to submit an item for consideration for a future column).

3 ways to make sure you connect with your audience

If you want to succeed in public relations and communications, you have to consider your audience.

It’s vital to your success as a company or organization.

At first glance, it seems like an easy task.

For example, a company who markets in retirement planning shouldn’t have a MySpace page.

That’s an easy one.

But what about the difficult issues?

Here’s a couple tips on how to make sure you understand what your audience needs.

– Plan before you launch a campaign

It’s easy to throw content out there before you understand how best to reach your audience. So do your homework first.

Are many of them on Facebook? Do they read their emails? Are they visiting your web site?

If you don’t know the answer, you can’t reach your audience.

– Publicize like crazy

You can make the greatest Facebook page for your organization, but the project would be a failure if no one knows about it,

Make sure your audience knows about your outreach tools and encourage them to share your content with others.

– Listen to your audience

It’s important to get honest feedback on your communications efforts.

Have a focus group and regularly check in with your stakeholders to see if your message is being heard.

What other tips can you share?