Are you struggling to make sense of social media and its effectiveness for your business? Never fear, you’re not alone. In fact, even while Worthwhile has seen great success from social media – from brand awareness to attaining new clients – we still can’t confidently say it’s been worth the investment we’ve put into it thus far..

We keep convincing ourselves that there’s a missing element to all of this. Something we’re not seeing. I think a lot of businesses feel this way – like they’re on the precipice of figuring out how to effectively connect online, but just not quite there. Well, I think I’ve found that element, and I want to share it with you

I had the privilege of attending Social Fresh on August 24th. It was a full-day extravaganza of people verbally making out with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging. Gotta admit: It was a lot of fun.

While there, I remember one speaker (can’t remember who it was – I’ve searched through all my notes and still can’t find them) made the following point:

Too many businesses are getting on social media and trying to reach the masses, when really they should be focusing on one relationship at a time.

That hit me like a ton of bricks. I was able to put two and two together on that one because someone had just engaged me, personally on behalf of their company.

Charter – yes, folks: that Charter – recently won me over. Using Twitter, no less! AT&T had completely ripped me off on the DSL front. I had ordered a 6mb connection, and it turns out I only received 1.5mb. When I called to complain, customer service just said the sales person never should have led me to believe that I was getting 6mb, that it wasn’t available in my area. Are you serious?!

I also was supposed to get a Visa Check card loaded with some cash for switching to AT&T. But there AT&T was three months later saying I didn’t qualify for the reward back in April. When I said that I double and triple-checked with the sales person to confirm, they again told me that the sales person was “misinformed.”

I was furious that there is no accountability with the sales staff of AT&T. I had been lied to.

So I let my fury out on Twitter (here, here, here, here, here and here), and Charter took notice. Specifically Josh (@UMatter2Chtr2) took notice. Josh immediately began talking to me over Twitter directly about my problem and a solution Charter could offer to counter it.

I put up a fight with him, right over Twitter. I had left Charter for AT&T because I was frustrated with Charter’s customer service and their high rise in prices. Josh, though, would not be dissuaded. He kept talking with me, even DMing me his direct line so we could talk over the phone. 30 minutes later, I was a Charter customer again.

Now, I’m a Charter evangelist. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one out there; because there are quite a few haters here in Greenville. But I know how Charter treated me, and that means a lot.

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So it got me thinking, who am I engaging directly? Who is the one person I want to build a relationship with?  The lesson is: Love them, and bend over backwards for them until they’re completely won over. They’ll sing your praises – and then you can move on to the next one. Having 20 followers on Twitter, and those twenty being strong evangelists for your company is far better than 2,000 followers who really could care less about what you bring to the conversation online.

So it’s not a question of how many relationships will you build this week . . .

. . . it’s a question of which one.