Staying connected to college students (and customers)

I am the mother of twin boys just entering Ohio State University as freshmen. <insert Mom bragging> I’m very proud of them – one is a chemical engineering major on a full scholarship and the other is a computer science major. They are happy at college and doing well. <end bragging>

Here’s the problem. They don’t really tell me anything. Moms of teenage boys will relate to this. Not that this is different from high school, but now that they’re living away from home I feel the need for better communication. I want to stay connected.

This is where social media comes in.

Through Facebook, I get daily updates on what they’re doing and the latest photos and videos they’ve shared with their friends. I can comment and add my own photos and posts so they can see what I’m doing here at home too. Last week my son posted a video of the Ohio State Marching band rehearsing outside his dorm!  I was able to watch it and enjoy exactly what he saw just a few moments after he shared it.

OSU Marching Band's famous Script Ohio

This is how I’m staying in touch right now. Of course I follow up with a phone call to check in, but I already know what to ask. Without this tool, I’d have no idea.

This is the same reason it makes sense to use social media for your business.

Your customers may not tell you exactly what bothers them or what they want or need. They aren’t (most likely) going to pick up the phone and call you to chat about how you can better serve them. They’ll share that information on Facebook and Twitter with their friends. They might blog about you too, and it isn’t always pretty.

Are you listening?

By communicating regularly though social media, listening to the comments that you receive, paying attention to what drives a response and monitoring the web for chatter about your business you can know what they want and need. Then you can give it to them.