You have probably heard that when it comes to marketing and social media ‘content is king’ and you may have some understanding of this statement. However, as I continually assist Businesses and Individuals in developing marketing strategies that work well for their niche, I see quite often that a lot of them are still using the ‘cram my product/services down their throats‘ approach to their marketing strategies.
As I work daily with Social Media Platforms and empower companies with their Social Media Strategies, I am still finding that quite often many are still ‘stuck’ in the mind-set of “here is our stuff, we are great, here is why we are great, buy from us”, which quite frankly – no longer works in our current on-the-go ever mobile society.
We are bombarded everywhere we go with radio ads, tv ads, billboards, bumper stickers, email ads, magazine ads (try going to buy groceries and NOT see these!), movie ads, you name it – it is constant. Most of us are quick to admit that we are very tired of it, and yet more often than not companies still attempt this approach and wonder why their marketing is not working for them.
The bottom line is that it is not about you – it is about them! In order to be effective in your marketing and thereby gaining customers, you must be able to show your audience (aka Target Customers) how and why what you have to offer benefits them. Generally they do not care about your company – they simply want their problems fixed effectively and quickly. Plain and simple.
They have families, children, activities, and as a result ‘problems and situations’ that need fixing. If you can listen well enough to understand what they are needing assistance with and show them that you genuinely care about what they are facing, it is at that point that you can then show them that what you have to offer has worked for others and how. You must also keep in mind that even though one particular product or service worked great for you, your friends, or your relatives, it very well may not work well for someone else, and if they tell you as such accept it kindly and move on.
We do business with those whom we know, like, and trust. Yes, price matters. But what matters even more is to know that you really care about me and what I need, and that you show me that first.
Social Media is not an advertising platform – it is a relationship platform. It is designed in such a way that if you use it as a 24-7 Networking Meeting instead of attempting to sell what you have to offer constantly, you will be highly successful with it. Of course there are many ideas and methods in content strategies, however in my experience there are no ‘cookie cutter’ answers. I teach my clients to ‘think outside the box’. They first must know who their customers are, where they are at (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest) and meet them there. It does not matter whether you like a particular social media platform or not, what matters is where are your potential customers hanging out at? If they are on Twitter – you better be on Twitter connecting with them, talking to them, and building relationships with them.
In the many years I have been developing Businesses, and assisting in their marketing strategies, I have seen many fall prey to the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach in Social Media. That is simply not effective. Each Business (or cause) is different, has a different target customer, with different problems they would like solved. The most effective way to use Social Media is to genuinely care about your audience and show them that on a daily basis. That means you are going to have to talk to people on a computer or cell phone regularly if you want your social media to work well for you. Yes, there are many automated systems out there, yet in my experience each has proven thus far to be not very effective, as people want to know you are there (or at least believe that you are) and they want to be heard and talked to.
Therefore the ‘content’ that you are creating and distributing should be showing them that you care – period. You should be sharing other’s content as it pertains to your brand or cause, and you should also be promoting others who fit your brand or cause. The more you show your audience how much you genuinely care about them, the more likely they are to contact you and/or send their associates, family and friends to you for your products and services.
Robin R. Robbins
