Without even looking, here's where 80% of your social content is missing the mark. (And what to do about it)
It is hard for most businesses to continue making the argument that social media is a waste of time. For all intents and purposes, Social Media IS the internet, and it's where we spend an inordinate amount of our time. The world has long since woken up to the fact that this is the new normal, not a fad.
But to look at most businesses' social accounts, it's clear that they don't get the true strengths and benefits that the social media landscape offers them: access.
Without even looking at your social media accounts, I'd be willing to wager that at least 3 of the following are true:
You're the hero of your own story.
This one is easy to understand. It's your social media account, why not make it about you?
Of course, the reason you shouldn’t is simple: No one cares. They aren't going to care unless they have a reason… and that reason will have nothing to do with your price, your tech or your social values.
It will have everything to do with them, their problems and what you can do to make their lives better. Your social media content should be about your audience. Rather than “our new BetterTex™ tent material is 30% lighter and 100 times stronger than Dyneema,” try “5 ways to lighten your backpacking load without sacrificing quality and durability.”
You're talking at them, not listening to them.
This one is less understandable. 15 years ago, most marketers would have given their right arm to have access to customers and prospects 24/7, to elicit their needs and uncover problems.
Instead, now that we have that access, we waste time pushing thinly-veiled self-promotion at them. Start thinking of your social media as a magazine you create for your customers and prospects. Would you bother reading a magazine that was 99.9% self-aggrandizement for a single brand?
If you were your customer what information would help you out right now, whether it's directly tied to your products or not. Heck, bonus points if it's not!
If you don't know what that information might be, guess what? Your customers have social media accounts, where they share a remarkable amount about their lives and concerns… their troubles and their aspirations. Start the conversation. Now.
You're straight up advertising.
What's worse then a thinly veiled ad? One bold-faced, blatant, unapologetic ad after another.
There's nothing wrong with promoting your products and services to your audience. But you must earn the audience first. And then work to serve and maintain that audience so they're around when you have something to advertise.
Or worse, you’re throwing a naked sales pitch.
Don't be that guy at the cocktail party, shaking every hand only to follow immediately with the sales pitch for a used car or an offer to sell their house or the next great investment opportunity.
Make friends. Mingle. Play games. Tell a good joke. At some quiet point when there's a lull in the party… that's when you mention what you do and how you can help them.
You're putting out content like a company.
No one wants to read your press releases. No one wants to hear about your “synergies,” or how you're “realigning to better capitalize your assets.”
Too many businesses dress their social media offerings in a three piece suit, even if they haven't worn a suit to the office in years. Lose the suit. Be human. Seek human interactions.
The solution to all of these issues is the same: shift the lens. Show your audience themselves. Show them living the life they always wanted, and let them know you're there to help them live it, in whatever small part you can play in the journey.
Let them be the hero of the story. You be the friend, the sidekick, or the wizened old mentor. Be the person who sees the TRUE “them,” and won't let them give up when things are tough.
