If you do all this then your social media channel will instantly be better than a huge proportion of what’s out there at the moment. But it won’t be perfect.
Why?
Because if you look at social media only from that perspective then you’re missing out on a very big part of it. Simply put, social media is a social tool. It’s intended for communication and that’s a two-way thing. Even if you’re posting the very best content in the world, if that’s all you’re doing then it will still feel like a one-way bombardment that will quickly become frustrating for your following.
So instead, you need to focus on that social aspect too by actually engaging with your audience and communicating with them rather than making this a one way thing. And this starts by treating your visitors like VIPs.
This is a small and simple difference but it’s one that can have a huge impact on your success.
The key is to make following you on social media seem like an exciting lifestyle change and the first step on a great journey. If your social media channel is about fitness for example, then you can create a situation where simply signing up to your social media channel feels like the first step toward the body your audience wants.
Did you know that people who tell others about their plans to get into shape often fail to do so? The reason for this is that simply telling other people that you plan to lose weight or build muscle relieves some of the psychological tension of wanting to achieve a goal.
When we tell people, it becomes a part of our identity and that means we sometimes feel as though we don’t have to work so hard! Of course this is not a good thing but what it does show, is how making a social step like this can actually feel like positive progress and even bring a sense of catharsis and achievement.
When someone clicks on your ‘follow’ button, you can make them feel like they’ve taken the first step to a new them: more confidence, more muscle, more money, more sex. And that makes them feel great about themselves, which is excellent feedback!
Your job is to encourage this feeling by positioning your social media channel as some kind of movement, some kind of statement. This is why many of the most successful online brands will tell people to ‘Follow and take part in the new fitness revolution!’ or ‘Join a community of elite money makers!’.
This also has another advantage, because it makes your followers feel like they’re a part of a community. This creates social pressure to join (everyone who is anyone is following you!) and it makes them feel that they may be missing out by not following. People hate missing out but they love being a part of something and if you can combine these two feelings, then you will be on to a winner!
You can then also carry this on by making your followers feel like VIPs in the way you continue to speak to them throughout. For example, you might refer to them using a group name, or you might tell them how they are receiving early access, or restricted information. Anything that makes them feel good and feel excited to be a part of your brand.
What’s in a Brand?
A big part of this will come automatically from building your brand in the right way to begin with. A brand is much more than simply a logo you see. Rather, a brand is all about your value proposition (as we’ve discussed) and your ‘why’.
Going back to that why, we can refer to Simon Sinek’s ‘Golden Circle’. This is the idea that you need to understand three ‘rings’ of your business. The outer ring is ‘What’, which is the service or product you create. Ring two is ‘How’ which is how you make it different and how you achieve it at all. And the inner circle is ‘Why’. Why do you do what you do? What is it that you want your business to achieve?
How do you want to make your mark on the world? And it’s by emphasizing this why over the what that you can create a brand that people are excited to get behind. We’ve already seen that the best way to market your social media channel is to create real value. But it also follows that you need to be able to have a motivating force and a vision behind your products themselves.
Look at Apple. Apple didn’t create a computer and then try to find a purpose for it. Jobs and Wozniak began with their why. Their reason for existing was to make computers fun, personal and creative. They wanted to overturn the idea that computers were for businesses only and they wanted to empower people to be creative and expressive.
That is what enabled Apple to thrive. That is why people responded to their products. That is why there are still so many fervent Apple fans today – despite the hardware being technically inferior and no longer quite so ground breaking. Other companies aim to give people more personal freedom. Or they aim to make the planet a cleaner place to live. Or they aim to help us see the world. Or achieve financial independence.
What is it that makes you wake up in the morning? How is it that led to your business? Focus on that because that is a movement and a vision and that is massively more motivating, engaging and exciting than ‘We Sell Washing Machines’. Plus, once you find the reason for your brand’s existence, then you can start to look into other ways of expressing that so that you can find ways to deliver value through your social media channels or to generally be more inventing and creative with your marketing etc.
