Imagine walking into a room and shouting how awesome you are and how awesome your product is. Or walking past a total stranger, jumping out right in front of them and yelling at them to buy your product.
In both instances, it’s pretty douchey right?
People hate to be “marketed to.” Period.
And yet when you scour the web reading blogs, looking at Twitter streams or checking out people’s Facebook pages, that’s all you see “me, me, me” and “buy, buy, buy.”
Every now and then you find something useful amongst all the noise but for the most part (unfortunately), it seems companies lead with their product first. If you have big numbers and it’s working for you, great (more power to you). But personally, I find that the one’s that win out best are the one’s that lead with something useful to solve consumer problems. @Zappos, @Zendesk, @Ramon_DeLeon (Domino’s Pizza in Chicago) and @Blueskyfactory are just a few that come to mind (they’re engaging, they’re helpful, they inspire they’re fans to talk about them).
Buzz does not create evangelists; evangelists create buzz. – John Moore, Brand Autopsy
Think about some of the products/brands/services that you engage with via social media. Are they helpful first, or are they “salesy”? Do they genuinely engage in back-and-forth dialogue amongst their fan-base or is it all one-way broadcast?
Do you subscribe to blogs that are all “me, me, me” and follow Twitter accounts that broadcast 24/7? (I know I don’t).
Now, take a look at how you manage your own social channels…are you wearing your marketing hat? And what are you going to do to change it?
Excellent points, Ricardo. Greg Cangialosi calls it “Being there before the Sale.” Love it.
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
http://www.blueskyfactory.com
@djwaldow
Have always loved that line (I've heard Chris Brogan use it): “Being there before the Sale.” Now I know who to give credit to, heh 😉
But seriously, I think the best client relationships are built this way. When you treat someone like just another number, you're not giving them the attention they deserve and you're not empowering them. They're not connecting with you and that in turn makes you much less referable. And a referable business is a good business (imho).
Thanks for dropping in DJ!
Yup. Greg actually was quoted in Chris Brogan's book, Trust Agents. Nice, huh?
Pretty sweet! And I remember reading about it on a blog somewhere recently
too <scratches head=””>… I love it when companies are active, connecting and
engaging (case in point = You!).</scratches>
I love the title of the article 🙂 According to the enticing law.
p.s – Ricardo, please see my last post as it concerns you also 🙂
Radu: Heh, thanks for the comment. I'm headin' over to check it out now 🙂
Awesome. So many, new to social media, tend to bullhorn their presence thinking it's going to bring in floods of raving fans. Sad part is, a lot of them never change.
The marketing hat is definitely a versatile hat. It goes with every outfit, but it still must work alongside everything else your doing for the benefit of all others involved.
Yep, yelling louder doesn't get you (or your content) noticed. No feedback (comments, mentions, etc.) in many cases is feedback in and of itself. It says maybe, just maybe, there's too much “me, me, me” going on and as a result you're not providing enough value.
Just my opinion anyway… Thanks for the comment Adam!
Hey ricardo
Good post.
It's so true – most company websites are all about THEM, and not about the customer. On every page and in every post you create you should be asking yourself a simple question: what's in it for the reader? What do they get from reading this content?
Keep your audience in mind and you'll communicate much better. That improved communication is a big step forward in your goal of converting readers into clients.
Paul
Absolutely! Agree with you 1,000%!!
I call it the “Who gives a s**t test?” (Pardon my French, so-to-speak). But seriously, how is this post (or piece of content) going to benefit my reader? Why (or are they) going to care? If you can answer that question, it's content worth publishing. If you can't answer that question, perhaps it's too self-serving and worth reconsidering. After all, when I share content that I find useful off of other sites, it's because it's not self-serving and I think my audience in turn is going to find it helpful. When content is overly self-promotional, that just isn't the case and it's not shared as often as a result.
If you want to convert readers into clients, be helpful and connect with them first. Period.
Thanks again for the comment Paul!