Social Spotlight: The Law of ‘REALationships’
5. It's all been said, done and posted before. We've all seen the caption contests, giveaways, etc., on social sites. It's now been six years since I did my first Facebook contest and gave away my first product freebie. While the strategy still works somewhat, these days much of what we see on social sites seems the same. Lots of SSDD (same stuff, different day) is going on and cluttering our feeds.
6. Don't be an information pusher (part one). I'm guilty of this as well. I'm constantly pushing out content (either my own or sourced) in an attempt to reach my followers. Marketers are encouraged to share content they like in search of the Holy Grail — the like, favorite, retweet, pin, etc. Of course, this creates a vicious circle with content going round and round without any real engagement and relationship building.
7. Don't be an information pusher (part two). Much of the content brands create is ultimately self-serving. The goal of content marketing is to build credibility and trust, and ultimately gain new customers. Brands create and share this content daily. Much of it isn't engaging. After all, how many "5 Simple Tips to blah, blah, blah" posts can we actually read in a given day? I read three posts this morning (shared two of them), but it's not even noon yet and I can barely remember what I shared, let alone the author/brand that wrote them.
8. Yeah, there's an app for that. Social media marketers are busy! They have tools (e.g., apps) to help them schedule posts, aggregate results, listen to their fans (and their competition), etc., all in order to save them precious time.
9. The rise of "anti-social media marketing." As I'm writing this article, I got a phone call from a company telling me it can take any business Facebook page and through some sort of whiz-bang algorithm it will tell you the best days, time of day and frequency to post along with what to post about. While that sounds incredibly beneficial to social media marketers, it also feels like cheating.
Using a tool like that, combined with a post scheduling tool like Hootsuite and some social listening tools, do you even have to visit your Facebook page? There are hundreds of free and paid tools on the market that allow you to save time and streamline your social media marketing workflow, but should you actually use them?
The Law of 'REALationships' in Action
Do you know Donna, Carol, Trevor, Josh and Tina? Yes, they're real people. They're fans of one of the Facebook pages I used to manage. They and hundreds of other "clients of my clients" are my personal Facebook friends. They're connected to me and to each other. We've all become friends. I know about their lives, they know about mine. We talk frequently! And they were all loyal clients of that company (until major management and policy shifts drove most of them away, which is another story for another day).
So here's my point: If you aren't in "the trenches," how can you be successful at social media? In today's harried, cluttered, automated, reshared age of social media, it's time to get back to basics. I feel a backlash starting to happen. Smart marketers are actually ignoring the tools and going back onto their pages, feeds, etc., and building relationships again. I know I do it, and I've reaped the benefits.
How it Works
In order for engagement to happen and sales to be generated (the Holy Grail all marketers seek), you need to build relationships. Engaged fans have a relationship with you, the level of which determines your results. By you I mean both the brand and the marketer who manages the brand's social media accounts. Of course they can be one in the same, but for this example think of the brand's mouthpiece as someone who is basically a relationship builder.
Every time you get a like or share or retweet, it's an opportunity for a contact of a more personal nature — e.g., a simple "thanks for sharing" message. Don't automate it, however. Add a personal statement like, "Thanks Barry for sharing my 9 Immutable Laws presentation. How is your social program working?" Remember, you have the opportunity to seek out your followers and make them feel special.
It's kind of simple actually. And yes, while building REALationships is time consuming, by bucking the automation trend you'll reap many rewards and hopefully gain new and fiercely loyal customers. Heck, you may even make some new friends along the way!
Jim Gilbert is the founder and CEO of multidiscipline direct marketing agency Gilbert Direct Marketing, as well as the president of the board of directors of the Florida Direct Marketing Association. Jim can can be reached at jimdirect@aol.com.
Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.
