I love movie lines. They tend to crystallize thought in a way that resonates on a deeper level. As we conclude this month on social media and your business, a line from You’ve Got Mail comes to the forefront. In the throes of slumping sales, a competitor tries to say, “It’s not personal. It’s business!” Meg Ryan’s response is classic. “Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.”

Social media creates an image that makes you seem personal. Social media offers you an opportunity to get your face out there. You add some verbiage. Offer a few opinions. Personal, right?

No. Let’s not mistake being open for being personal. Exposure is not a bad thing, but being personalized is not being personal. We often mistake the idea of being humanized with really being human, and they are not the same thing, no more real than a talking fox in a fairytale. Getting personal requires two persons in close contact, sharing information or services vital to one or both of them.

Begin with a presence on Facebook. Marketing Insider suggests Facebook has more than twice as many active accounts than its nearest competitor, What’sApp. That’s a whopping 2,375 million monthly users. Whoa! That’s exposure!

But let’s carry it one step further. Your goal, especially in a tight community like Blue Springs, is to transcend that exposure into personal contact. Bring in someone to post out the whazoo for you…but plan sales or teas or gifts that bring your friends and neighbors to you. Interweaving exposure and personal touch is a winning combination for business growth.

Let’s never forget in reading how to’s on building a social network platform, that a phrase like, “show authenticity” still means you’re creating an image, not relating on a personal basis. One does not replace the other. Begin with having a strong social media platform, definitely…but go beyond that to personal touches.

In this crazy COVID environment that isn’t easy, but here are five ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Build customer profiles of things a person likes or needs. Brands they’ve gotten. Wish lists. Watch for opportunities to offer sales.

2. Plan outdoor events and sidewalk sales as necessary.

3. Make personal mementos to give customers with sales.

4. Write personal notes.

5. Create a Friends Board in your space with pics of your shoppers.

I am a huge proponent of social contact—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, emails and blogs. I am also a proponent of being personal with your hometown friends and neighbors. It’s a combination that exposure alone can never beat.