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There's A Difference In Doing Social And Being Social
August 6, 2013
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You see some brands do the former every day with common thinking and typical tactics playing out socially.
But as radio scrambles to find new ways to stand out in today's distracted landscape, there is value in looking for moments that matter to your fans.
Fans are connecting socially – with you or without you. But if you pay close attention, they are trying to connect first with you.
When I saw this tweet over the weekend from Jack Shell, midday talent on WYCD/Detroit, I thought this was a great example of standing out by doing one thing - paying attention:
This is the stuff that resonates – those unexpected, cool moments for the fans.
But there's a special mindset required in order to be social.
Perhaps Jonah Bloom, Executive Director/Content Strategy at KBS+ Content Labs puts it best when speaking about the process that brings this all about:
"The key thing about good content is that it requires that you think about it first and foremost from the point of view of the consumer and what they want to hear, rather than from the point of view of the brand and what it wants to say."
Bloom is right.
It's about paying attention in the social space and coming at it from the fan's point of view
Mediocre social communication is as brand erosive as a bad break. Over time, the audience becomes fatigued and unmoved – passive fans.
And there is no value in a passive social fan base.
So beyond paying attention and acknowledging fans, we also need to assess the content we create and/or curate. It requires much more effort than most brands invest in the space right now.
Here's why:
It's a serious traffic jam out there in the social sphere and it's only going to get more cluttered. Consider this infographic created by Qmee – what happens online every 60 seconds.
And it's only going to get noisier.
It should no longer be about "mastering social media" because it's not about doing it. It starts with you and how you approach being social.
When your brand's social assets start emulating the appearance of your fans' personal posts and dialogue, when the core value of your social team is that "every person counts," and when you focus more on impact and less on "likes," you will then be on the road toward becoming a true social brand.
You will have earned anticipation and trust on the part of your fans - the ultimate social reputation.
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