- The person on your left tells you fascinating stories about her life with gumption and passion. She then asks you questions about your life, visibly enjoying your stories as much as she enjoys telling her own.
- The person on your right also tells you fascinating stories about her life with gumption and passion. Her life stories are the most fascinating thing in the world…to her. She asks you a question occasionally but is so busy forming an answer to her own question before you’ve finished answering that you can tell she isn’t listening. She often interrupts or changes the topic because she’s moved on…in her head.
Choose which brand you want to be. The one who tells stories and encourages customer stories or the one who tells story after story after story...never interested in what anyone else can contribute. The answer is obvious, but it can be easy to fall into the trap of only talking about yourself in social media, in a billboard-type of way. Translate your IRL relationships with colleagues, friends and even family into how you want to be perceived in social media as a brand. What works in IRL relationships? Give and take. Social media at its most basic is a platform of give and take. Use this to your advantage: know who you are, what story you want to tell at the never-ending dinner party that is social media and engage your customers at every level on an ongoing basis. Listen and you shall be heard.
- Be the brand that tells the most fascinating stories
- Be the brand that solicits interesting stories from the masses
- Be the brand that your consumers (existing AND potential!) want to listen to but also the brand that wants to know about its consumers
- Be engaging and engaged
- Understand what your consumers want and focus your content on that
- Make sure your consumers know they’re being heard
- Show passion, show compassion
- Educate and learn
