Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter cards, infographics, everywhere you look there is more media. There is, of course, a reason why pictures are shared more.
From John Medina’s Brain Rules: Continue reading
With the intent of creating ongoing dialogue with you, every Wednesday, I’ll be posting commonly asked questions and then provide an answer to them.
Easy. Engage and listen to your customers. Talk with them and not at them.
This is the holy grail; it always has been. Social media has simply made it more obvious. But, companies are having difficulty adapting.
Why? Continue reading
Talk of social media usually ends with “it is a time suck”. There is some truth to this, if you are not doing things with purpose.
You devote 13 hours of your workweek to dealing with e-mail. A report from McKinsey Global Institute argues that you can free up a quarter of that time by using social media instead. Continue reading
As much attention as content marketing gets, there is another (just as important) activity that doesn’t get mentioned enough: listening.
One of the biggest mistakes companies makes on social media is they stop listening. This is a result of the set-it-and-forget-it mindset that crushes so many new initiatives.
Building social capability, like innovation, isn’t a plug and play proposition where you hire a bunch of consultants to help your company establish structures and processes that will help you manage more efficiently.
Nope. Continue reading
Last Monday, I wrote about what topics make for great content. These topics sit at the intersection of your expertise, and your audience’s core needs and interests.
Today, I’m going to provide you with a tool I use to come up with focused content; call it the Content Ideation Map.
The Content Ideation Map has three key components:
What I like to do here, is to then introduce my seven friends:
Questions starting with any of my seven friends, are potential questions anybody may ask themselves. These are the questions/inquiries you can and should answer for them on your blog/website.
Remember, social media opens a vast area of opportunity to connect with people. It provides an opportunity to clear the noise and provide clarity. And, framing your content with questions helps you put yourself in your audience’s shoes.
Answering your customer’s questions is a powerful approach to creating trust and engagement (critical marketing objectives). On my next post, I’ll go deeper into this and provide you with examples.
But, for now, remember the key takeaway: Stop “selling things” to your customers and start giving advice.
This tool helps you put yourself in that state of mind.
Hat tip: Brainzooming for sharing the tool.
Last time I checked, there were a half dozen tactics for how organizations use social media. And, it isn’t surprising that most organizations are looking for a template that will point them to the secret recipe for success.
This is a mistake. Most organizations just jump on and start with the tactics. Let me say this again: this is a mistake.
By only following tactics, your efforts have no punch. And, when you have no punch, you lose momentum. And, when you lose momentum, herd behavior takes over and you end up copying whatever the other guys are doing.
Social media is no longer a trend; it is now an everyday way of doing business. And, the fact of the matter is, your organization needs to know why it is using social media in the first place to support the mission and goals of the business.
So, how do you figure out what initiatives to pursue? First, we have to know why your business exists in the first place. What is its aspiration? Why should I care? Continue reading
On social media, or any other channel, your customers need to know why they should care.
A recent survey indicates that 41% of small business owners consider LinkedIn to have the most potential to help their social media efforts.
Only 3% of those surveyed consider Twitter to be useful. It isn’t surprising. LinkedIn is much more direct than Twitter because it is positioned as a professional business network.
Twitter is an information network. It is a playground for knowledge workers. And the fact of the matter is, most businesses still haven’t figured out what Twitter is and how to best use it.
But, there is something for everyone on Twitter. But before I tell you what this is, I want you to ask yourself one question: So what?
Think about it, why should I care about what you are doing? Why should I care about your product or service?
Remember, people don’t like being marketed to. They like being acknowledged and persuaded thoughtfully.
So, before you jump on Twitter and start advertising, stop. Do something useful. Better yet, ask yourself: How will I add value to Twitter?
Don’t stop there. Want to be more strategic? Apply the “so what?” question to everything you do. Not just on Twitter.
Want some quick feedback? Go to your existing customers, and ask them why they care about your product or service.
The point: Don’t just jump in and think you will see benefits immediately. Social media marketing is an ego check for everyone. It isn’t about you, it about others. So before jumping in, check your ego at the door by asking yourself: So what?
