For the last year, I have been lucky enough to regularly contribute to this blog. I love it and aim at all times to be useful. I do get preachy, #sorrynotsorry. I am passionate about the customer. I enjoy encouraging my fellow marketers to think about her. Consider her needs and wants. I like to spend a few hours each week in her shoes. I like to be her for a bit to tell the marketers who read this blog what she wants. And you know what she could use right now from you in social? A point.
A purpose. A reason for interrupting her feed. A point is something we seem to be sorely lacking in our social media marketing lives. Far too many times the point is either glossed over or lost. And when the point is lost, so is your message and brand because so much of social media is now simply noise. And even our friends are not rising above the noise factor, so how is your brand going to ever hope to get noticed? You’ll increase your odds of being noticed if you have a point.
Do you know your point?
This is where 90% of social strategy gets lost. There is a distinct lack of purpose or goal. So, what’s your point in social media? Are you trying to grow your audience? Generate awareness? Are you trying to generate leads? Change perception? Get feedback? Can you cite to anyone who asks why your brand is on social? I am guessing there are a handful of you who can. If you can hit me up on Twitter #MyPointIs with your point or post them in the comments. The problem here is that without a purpose, a goal, a point, your content, curated and otherwise is rudderless. You lack the focus and passion to even dream of cutting through the noise to be heard. You, unfortunately, are part of the noise. When you are developing your point, you should come at if from a place where you are truly different from everyone else AND where you can be useful to your customer. Never one without the other.
A Point of View
Thought leaders are not something that happens because you wish it. And thought leadership is more than ideas. Thought leadership is about groundbreaking ideas with a distinct point of view. Something that you can read, see, or hear and know for a fact that it come from a specific brand. This should be applied to social. You’ve spent millions investing in the development of a brand voice and positioning, and yet, that point of view is not being carried out into social. It is easy to play it safe. It is hard to take a stand and believe firmly in a point of view. It is brave. We could use more bravery in marketing. I find it refreshing when a brand takes a stand for or against something. It stands out. It cuts through the noise, which is kind of the point!
Get to the point
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, less is more. Don’t just write to write, get to the point. Share it in fewer words and you’ll be rewarded. And while I am at it, let’s talk a little bit about Calls to Action. I frequently caution about selling on social and how you need to curate 80% of the content you share with your fans. But, when you do produce something that is highly valuable, don’t be shy about calls to action. Tell the reader what they are supposed to do with the information you are creating. Be sure that all of your content that needs a call to action has one. Don’t be shy about it. But, don’t abuse it. Make sure people know what the point of the content is by telling them what they should do with it. If you wrote an eBook and promote the contents of the eBook with a blog post or a social media update – tell them to download the eBook to learn more. So many times we create content that the reader or viewer to simply consume it, which is fine and all, but sometimes, there’s more. Tell them there’s more and how to get it.
Having a point will help her better align with your brand, which is what we all should be aiming to do. Getting your voice heard by your customer yields rewards but you need to be sure you have a goal, a voice, and tell her what she could do with this new useful information.
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