Lead with something useful to solve consumer problems. It’s really pretty straightforward. All good marketing does 1 of 3 things first:
- It Educates
- It Entertains
- It Inspires
Nobody cares about your product(s). They care about how your product is going to help solve their problems. So when you engage in a digital handshake (through a comment or a Tweet), you don’t lead with the product. You lead with something more useful. Think “How To” type posts and content. The product comes later. To quote Chris Brogan:
In relationship terms, I’m reaching out to shake your hand and you’re trying to put your tongue in my mouth. – Chris Brogan
No thanks.
Now take a look at your interactions and your marketing. What does your marketing say about you? Do you seek to be helpful first? Or are you trying to shove your product down my throat?
Hey Ricardo – thanks for this reminder. The “tongue in the mouth” idea is not something I want either. Well said by CB. 🙂 I guess the trick is to slow down and breathe a bit before posting content, launching a campaign or introducing a new product. If, in the end, if it is “about you”, you might have a problem.
I call it the “Who gives a heck?” Test. Before you publish something, ask yourself, is my audience going to care? If the answer is no, maybe it's time to rewrite that article. When you make it all about “me, me, me” you quickly shun away your audience. When you make it about them (and it's helpful), you content suddenly becomes inviting and easily sharable.
Like you said in your Tweet: “lead with something useful . . . to solve consumer problems.” That's a great formula to follow!!