Social media marketing strategy for your business

Look at that! Frank the dog is very interested in the Northern Brown Snake. Photo: Tony Alter

I’m in the middle of researching and writing the second edition of the Last Exit legal sector study, when finished it will be a thorough examination of how the major law firms are using the web to communicate with clients. But research soaks up a lot of time, so I’m not blogging as much as I should.

However, today I came across some wise words from Euan Semple, on Twitter.

Euan Semple tweets: “Whenever someone asks me to help with a social media marketing strategy the best I can come up with is “be interesting”.”

In other words:

Need a social media marketing strategy? It’s simple: Be interesting.

But: To be interesting, you have to produce content and messaging that interests your audience.
Which means you need to know what your audience is interested in.

For example:

Schwarzkopf responds to a request for product information on Twitter, and it doesn’t get shared by others. There’s no reason for it to provoke social media sharing – the story is only of interest to the person requesting the info.

However:

When Schwarzkopf produces a YouTube video that appeals to a wide range of people because:

It’s well produced – enjoyable to watch
Deals with “universal” big themes – Love, relationships, ageing etc
Its story is crafted to provoke an emotional reaction. (Content should have an ethical appeal, an emotional appeal, or a logical appeal).
By sharing it you’re sending a clear message – that you appreciate romance
Is topical – released near Valentine’s Day – therefore can be woven into the audience’s personal stories / constructs
Illustrates the “benefits” of the product, rather than its features.

Then…

Many thousands of people will share it.

The idea of simply producing interesting stories still seems to shock many “marketers”.

It’s a profound shift, so I sympathise.

But it bears repeating: Dear grown-up serious-business corporate marketers, technical tricks and buzzwords are not going to cut it. If you’d like your communications to succeed on social media, “be interesting”.

P.S. It’s people you’re trying to influence. They’re not consumers. And they don’t consider themselves a “market” either. On the web, shouty suit-y “marketing” doesn’t really work.

Happy New Year!

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Euan’s Twitter exchange:

Social media strategy on Twitter

Photo credit: Tony Alter