So, social media marketing is about the conversation, not the
pitch. People are starting to get that. This is a good step, but
what does it mean in practical terms? Having conversations with
people is nice, but the goal of a brand is ultimately to get
people interested in spending their time or money on the brand,
after all. What does having this conversation accomplish, and
just how does a brand use that conversation to get the critical
conversion from conversation to customers?
The Key Thing: Customer Investment
Just about everyone's familiar with the smart and trendy Mac
commercials. They've been seen, redone, spun off and parodied
just about to death, and will stand as icons of excellent
advertising. But think about it — when was the last time you saw
one of these commercials on TV? How often do they actually come
up anymore?
The fact is, Mac's most consistent and open advocates are its
users. People with an Apple notebook can't wait to tell their
friends about it, take it around in public and talk up its
virtues. This is true in other areas as well — Honda users have
fan sites for their chosen vehicles, most people get into novelty
diets or exercise programs as a result of their friends'
influence and so on.
So, give people a reason to talk about your brand — by making it
their brand.
Step 1: A Place to Talk
There is no reason whatsoever not to have a public, open
discussion forum for your brand on your site. This can take the
form of the comments section if your brand consists of a simple
blog, or it can be a whole message board. Definitely have a
Facebook page and enable comments so that people can provide
input on your frequent, informative updates.
Step 2: Other Places
People like to put up fan sites of their own, in addition to
official ones. This should never, ever be discouraged. Yes, there
are some risks with having a site that isn't under your direct
control. However, very few people are going to respond favorably
to "big business" quashing the "little guy" who only wanted
to show off how much he liked a certain product the business
makes.
Instead, leverage this as an excellent opportunity. Contact them
as an official representative and mention how much you appreciate
their interest. If someone has a whole webpage dedicated to your
bestselling line of how-to books, make a friendly "how to be an
awesome fan" spotlight on your page showing off their site. When
people see how well the brand treats its fans, they will talk
about it.
Step 3: Talk it Up
Wherever people are talking about your brand, make sure they have
good quality information on things, and that the information you
give them is tailored to your audience's expectations. If your
brand is high-class technical engineering tools, provide rigorous
specifications your users can dig into. If it's a fashionable
line of casual Sunday wear, offer interviews with the fashion
designers and what their inspirations were. Give them some real
meat to talk about, and they'll be chattering for months.
Further, remember the reciprocity principle. If a conversation
seems to be really taking off, jump in on it. If someone raises
an interesting point in an otherwise quiet thread, give it a
boost with some official insight. However you see fit, get
involved in the discussions and help people see that you want to
talk about the brand as often and as early as possible. Spur the
discussion, encourage the argument, do whatever you need to keep
the party going just one point longer.
Step 4: Reward Interest
This was touched on slightly in Other Places, but it can be
expanded further into its own point. McDonald's recently gave an
award to one of its most loyal customers, Don Gorske. The
restaurant recognized him as the world's premier Big Mac
enthusiast, since Gorske has eaten more than 23,000 Big Macs over
the course of his life. An odd award by most lights, but
McDonald's certainly reaped the attention, and Gorske has gone
on to be a guest on Super Size Me and The Rachel Ray Show.
Most brands can't quite leverage that degree of influence, but
there are many ways to reward a fan for loyal interest in a
brand. Perhaps your biggest fan deserves an advance shipping of
the newest product you're planning. Maybe she's read every one
of your novels to date and maintains such an active author-fan
community that you'll use her name for the heroine of your
newest work. Or perhaps the reward is a friendly lunch where you
talk about ideas for the brand, and other things you have in
common. Maybe you even hire your No. 1 Fan because he has some
genuinely excellent ideas.
In General, Think Humanely
No list can comprehensively contain all the material that will
get people interested in and talking about any brand. There are
so many verbal tricks, psychological cues and special gimmicks
that even trying to Google them would take months of research.
The biggest key is to think like a human. Remember the
advertisements or conversations that got you interested in
something, that made you want to participate in a brand as its
advocate. Try to extend those same thoughts into what you put
into your brand, and you'll draw in people just as interested as
you.
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