5 Ways To Nurture Your Network With Social Media

Networking isn’t just about attending an event and meeting new people. That’s part of it yes, but the real value comes from investing time in nurturing your existing network.

Building relationships with the people we already know, or the new people we meet, is what allows us to build trust over time and that’s when the real magic happens.

So once you’ve met someone at an event, or you’re connected with them digitally, what next? How do we nurture those relationships in order to build trust, create customers, and receive referrals?

Well this is where social media can really come in handy. Just connecting with people isn’t enough though, and scrolling past their content definitely isn’t enough. We need to engage with them online! By engaging with them and supporting their social media content, a few wonderful things can happen…

1. Remember Me?

When we click ‘like’, comment or share someone’s social media content it reminds them that we’re there! Social media is called social for a reason – you need to engage with others and by doing so remind them you’re in their network.

2. Hormones

When you support someone’s social they get a happy hit of dopamine which makes them feel great (it’s why we’re all addicted to social media). Making people in your network feel great is a really powerful thing to do…

3. ‘Like’

Making people feel good by supporting their social means they then associate that happy feeling, with you! Which it turn makes them like you. And building like with your contacts is one of the three key components of networking.

4. Consistency

Another one of the three key components of networking is trust. When we’re consistent with out actions, and in this case in our support of people’s social media content, it can help build trust between you and the people in your network. Showcasing you’re reliability and support is a fantastic was to nurture your network.

5. Add Value

Finally, when you share interesting, insightful, useful content that people in your network have published you’re not only supporting them, but you’re also adding value to the people in your wider network too! It’s a win-win!

So there you have it, next time you go to scroll past someone’s social media post, I want you to ask yourself ‘would I like to build a better relationships with this person?‘ If the answer is Yes then get clicking my friend! 

For more tips on nurturing your network strategically, be sure to sign up to our newsletter and download our FREE whitepaper on The Art of Strategic Networking – you can also take our online course Become a Strategic Networker which teaches you how to create your very own networking strategy!