There is a ton of fud written on blogs, news sites and media of all sorts about social media. There are quick fix overnight solutions you can buy for the low price of $49. You can buy fake followers, fans, Facebook likes, YouTube views, Instagram followers, and even blog visitors. You can focus for months on how to raise your Klout and other influence scores.
We must ask WHY. What is driving the behavior? Is it human nature? Is it the need for belonging? Is it the need to be accepted, loved, cared for and liked? Why is it some people believe having fake robots like their online goods makes them loved?
Our agency, Marketing Nutz, gets contacted every day by business and brand leaders who have fallen for the vanity metric tactics and strategies. Most of them have wasted months and years focusing more on tactics and get famous and rich overnight social strategies versus approaches that will drive real business.
The majority of these brand leaders never intended to get over focused on actions that are far from delivering real business and brand value. They trusted what they read by the numerous bloggers out there delivering the step by step guides to overnight online fame. Many of them come to us when they are ready for real business results or when they want to get started right from the very first step of integrating social into their business.
Social media is so much bigger than a Facebook page or Twitter handle. It is not a band-aid that will save your broken business or struggling sales and marketing teams. It is a communications vehicle, a platform for you to build relationships, to establish thought leadership. It's a channel, a means to communicate.
Social media is not rocket science and it's often more art than science. Yet there are plenty of people out there who want to sell you the perfect science solution in a box. Do not fall for it. You must know your audience and align social media to your business goals where it can have the greatest impact. There is no way around it.
Social media is not just going to transform your organization, it will first reveal it. You must start from the inside out. You must empower employees, invest in real human beings and show up to deliver real value every single day to everyone in your social communities.
The Rebel Does Not Accept Status Quo
How do you rise above? How do you ignore the pressure to have the highest influence score on the block? How do you not get over focused on social buzz metrics versus metrics that can help you achieve real results?
The answer is pretty simple. You make the choice to not focus on such vanity metrics. You become a rebel. You stand against status quo. Instead of focusing on social buzz and vanity metrics it is time you rise above.
If you focus on delivering value to your audience, clients, community, partners and stakeholders, your vanity metrics will rise organically. The focus on vanity metrics is not going to ignite your business profits or offer you the brand awareness you are seeking. Even if you do get some additional brand awareness from such games, it will be very short lived. It is a short term false solution to what should be a medium and long term plan for business and brand sustainability.
A Social Media Rebel Asks Different Questions
Start asking questions that are meaningful. Try these for starters…
- How can you develop the most human brand possible?
- How can you speak to your audience and community members as human beings?
- How do you show up every day with a goal to provide ultimate value?
- How do you build trust?
- How do you build brand equity?
- How do you earn support of loyal brand evangelists?
- How do you provide a unique and memorable brand experience at every brand touch?
- How can you embed mobile strategies to give your online visitors an integrated experience across all platforms you own and can impact?
- How can you nurture relationships with influencers vs begging them to blog about your brand and share your tweets?
- How do you align social media to business goals where it can have the greatest impact?
- How can you be prepared at time of product or business launch and avoid spamming your social networks begging them to help you get the word out?
- How can you do more together by collaborating with others vs working in a silo by yourself?
- How can you eliminate random acts of marketing (RAMs)?
- Why should your audience give a rip you and your brand exists?
- How can you inspire your blog readers to stay on your site longer than five seconds?
- How can you write content that is not just about YOU?
- How can you help your ideal client solve their toughest challenge?
- How can you help others succeed?
- How can you rise above status quo?
- How can you fill your Twitter stream with real value vs automated tweets 24/7 that repeat every other day?
- How can you provide unique value in everything you write, say and do online?
- How can you be real and transparent in the right level with each specific audience?
- How can you get in the head of your community, clients, and audience? How can you know what they need and want.
- How can you provide content that is what your audience wants and needs versus what you want to sell them?
I Double Dare You to Be a Rebel
I challenge you right now, right here to rise above the status quo. I double dare you to stand proud and be a rebel. Stand for something more than influence scores and vanity metrics. Are you in? Can you do it? If you are in, simply tweet the following words… “I am in! #SMRebel!”
“Get Fit Social Business Series”
We are going to help you get integrated and stomp the Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs) once and for all in this new series, “Get Fit Social Business.”
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- Worksheet: Download our Content Marketing Editorial Calendar Template
- Worksheet: Download our POST audience analysis worksheet to help you identify and prioritize your top audiences.
- Blog Post: Brand Humanization: Focus on Human Beings, Not Social Media Tools
- Blog Post: Quit Trying to DO Social Media, Focus On Business Results
- Blog Post: 10 Things You Must Know About Your Audience (includes tutorial video)
- Blog Post: Social Brand Humanization: Authenticity vs Transparency
- Blog Post: 22 Tips to Humanize Your Brand Using Twitter
- Blog Post: Talk Human to Me: 20 Tips to Humanize Your Brand
- Blog Post: Building, Growing & Sustaining Communities
- Blog Post: 9 Tips to Stomp Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs)
- Blog Post: 13 Characteristics of Human Brands