Social Crowding: You’re standing on my news feed!
As the attention span gets shorter and shorter, marketers are realizing that getting the attention of their core demographic is getting more and more difficult. Social Media is a crowded place. As Social Media Managers we are constantly trying to get people’s attention so they will “Click”, “Follow”, and “Like” whatever page we are pushing at the moment.
Twitter is a crowded place and depending on how many people you or your company is following there is a lot of information coming at you constantly, the same is true of Tumblr and Facebook and all the other social media outlets. So we keep making our content smaller and quicker and faster to get that 12 seconds of attention, and we give it a cute format name and call it “News Snacks” or “Snackable” meaning it can be read on our phones as we go and do a million other things.
It has become a cacophony of visual clutter, that will get pushed aside like a side bar ad to be ignored. We as marketers constantly talk about connections, engagements, and outputs and then we measure and determine success or failure. This only adds to the noise that is already out there as we tout our successes and also our failures for everyone to see, like and share.
Everyone wants to connect, but screaming “Pick ME! Pick ME!” Does not help create that connection. The best method for building customer connections is through conversations. Where do these conversations take place? The best way is face to face interaction; this is why the sales team is still a very important part of any business and marketing strategy. Nothing can take the place of face to face, person to person interaction. Then comes your social media game plan; this is where your employee’s are used as ambassadors of the company as they engage with people through sites such as LinkedIn or Branchout. Every article that an employee writes and posts on LinkedIn or on a company blog or even their own blog that show cases their knowledge, of your industry, is an opportunity for your company to shine.
Research has shown that consumers are more than 50% of the way through the decision process before they engage the seller. Therefore, it is vital that we become more a part of the research than ever before. Sharing information through thedifferent outlets not just about how your product does XYZ; but also showing an understanding of the challenges that your customers face is one of the best ways of getting that customer’s trust and attention. When the client feels they have connected with you and that you as the seller understands what it is they are trying to accomplish, then you have done more than just sold your product, you have built a relationship.
Finding places to show your knowledge makes all the noise go away. Your content becomes the light that shines the way for your products and services to come out of the fray of “Pick Me!” And into the calm of gathering the information the customer needs to make the right decision for their business, contributing to this conversation improves the odds they will choose you.
(Image used was created by Jerrydedwards.com)
Source: Pace Feed
