Skiing, Water Parks, Dating and Politics (Three Ways To Engage Your Online Community)

Many of the responses were of a similar ilk, basically “it is Jay Peak, so we don’t want anything tacky, keep it natural and Vermont like.” Jay Peak Resort then took this engagement to the next level to show that they were listening to their fans they sent out this tweet:

This tweet says “We heard what you had to say, now we are acting upon it, we are including you in every step of this process.” There is the skiing and water park part of the post, now what about the dating and politics part?

Like a good date the best use of social media is to engage your fans/followers and create a conversation. This clip from A Night at the Roxbury is a great example of what happens when you talk at your followers. They are bored, don’t pay attention, and want to leave.

Now for the politics.

As a politician you are always courting more supporters. We learned from Jay Peak the value of creating conversation and we learned from Night at the Roxbury not to talk at our followers. Here are three ways you can captivate your supporters and virally spread your message:

1. Ask questions: People love to talk politics and people love to feel like they made a difference. Ask them questions; you will get them talking and learn valuable information. Here are some great examples:

• What is your favorite thing about (the area you represent)?
• What do you think about (this important issue)?
• If you had a million dollars to change one thing in (the area you represent) what would it be?

2. Show That You Are Listening: Respond to comments without directing the conversation and thank them for their feedback.

3. Follow Up: This is most important. If you ask them questions then you have to be open to the suggestions they post. If you ask a question about a hot button topic and you get an answer that is overwhelmingly one sided, then act upon it. Let your supporters now that the campaign and (hopefully) administration is about them not you.