Show, Don't Tell Marketing

I'm going to be honest with you.  I thought Facebook was dead.  And here's why... my nieces and nephews aren't on it and my parents are.  Plenty of information can be read between those lines.  I'm outside of the 20-something year olds that would totally be into something like Facebook, and yet I feel like I'm the final frontier of Facebook's full on social media use.  And ya know what, I barely even use it.  Like my sister's recent confession to me about social media, I just don't feel like I'm making any real connection with people anymore.  I live on the opposite end of the Earth from most of my friends now (ya know, Australia - the opposite end to everything) and I have absolutely no interest in stalking my friends Facebook feeds for information.  Distance makes the heart grow fonder!!!!  Disney's Robin Hood taught me that and taught me well.  So like many others, I'm stuck somewhere between caring to post anything at all and not quite into the total anarchy move of deleting my account all together.  After all, the world has yet to replace it.

Yea, that's right.  Even if you find yourself in similar shoes, you should understand the necessary evil that can be Facebook (or LinkedIn, since you're here and all).  If you're as ancient as I am, you not only remember the excitement of letter-writing pen pals; you also remember when you thought you'd have an @aol.com email address until the end of time and then... you didn't.  In fact, it wasn't until Gmail that people seemed to really commit to an email address that would define them for years to come (ya know, something really deep like mine - silencesounds03).  But do you remember even more so, the dawn of text messaging?  Text messaging was the most unique thing that somehow I was born knowing how to use.  This thing simply appeared on my phone one day with no explanation, and I knew how to use it.  I used it a lot!!!  And like the dawn of 10-cents-per-minute Internet, text messages were anything but unlimited too.  

These things shaped the way we communicate.  In fact, they're a primary reason why I communicate drastically different from someone even just 3 years my younger.  My text messages?  They're books!  BOOKS!  A millennial typer? Every.
message.
goes.
something.
like this.
[Insert emoji here.]

Cue raised blood pressure.  Ding. Ding. Ding. DING! DING!

Like email begat text messaging.  Text messaging begat Twitter.  Literally.  Remember the good old days when tweets were just group text messages like the party line of cell phones?  Probably not.  I'm guessing you don't even remember what part lines are... or land lines in general.

Today, our younger generation doesn't email.  In fact, the kids in my family don't even get their own email address for any other reason than to sign in to their iCloud accounts or add to their college applications.  My first email address?  I was 10!  

Let's face it.  Our kids don't text message either.  Why?  Like "Eat Local" and "Antibacterial" were once fads of the marketing world, the new fad is Snow(den) down upon us with the catchphrase "Privacy." #ThanksObama

That's why today's younger generation will go wherever you don't go!  Kids ran the world of Instagram, until Mom figured that one out.  Now kids run the world of Snapchat, and I think it is safe to say we can predict the death of Snapping as more and more adults figure it out.

None the less, these social mediums dictate the way we do things.  The world went on an iPhoneography photo craze.  Instagram made square photos all the fad, helping Polaroid make a serious brick-and-mortar comeback at Urban Outfitters.  Now, the world has forgotten that landscape photography was ever a thing no thanks to Snapchat power.

Why do the children matter?  Well, every good sitcom will tell you "do it for the children," but when it comes to how we communicate, how we market, and how we sell - children are the future.  If your 14 year old today thinks everything you do online is completely lame, how are you going to sell to them when them in just 4 years time?

In the end, we hang on to Facebook because we know half the people on there don't check their email (like, ever!), and we aren't buddy-buddy enough with 500 people to feel like we should be text messaging them or calling them directly.  "Hi Kim?  This is Caz.  I sat next to you in 7th grade.  According to Facebook, you're having a pretty good life.  Tell me about it?"  If you're as awkward as I am socially, that would probably work, but in the end it is nice to let Twitter automatically say, "Tell your friends how you're doing in 140 characters or less."

The question remains:  What's next?

Social media fads come and go faster than most businesses can keep up.  Here's the thing though, that's exactly the point.

Regardless of what social platform you're on, the world is changing into something far more instantaneous, natural, and real.  While the world remains addicted to reality television, we crave a real connection.  We crave knowing we're a chosen connection.  We want to know that what you're saying and doing is real.  Our younger generation wants to literally create a rosey life rather than view the world through your rose colored filters.

Whether you're on Facebook or Snapchat, to stay relevant start reevaluating the way your interact socially.

If you want me opinion, here you have it:

• If you're going to automate posts, create a database for things like blog posts and schedule what I like to call your "dry content" at a minimum throughout the week.  My recommendation?  Use Edgar to create a database.
• If you have the time and the social media power to be real, DO IT!  A better way to easily share your blog content is to install Co-Schedule on your Wordpress blog.  It is a great tool for keeping your best content at the top and bringing some other content back to the forefront.
• Get on board with selfies, videos, audio updates, animations, and chatty podcasts.
• Realize your brand and your people are one in the same.  While your followers want to know about your business, your team of marketers should be consistent and equally intriguing.  Think: the new TV personality
• Stop reporting and start showing.  Want to put a case study out there?  Great!  Interview them.  Don't just some long form facts.
• Consistency is more important than beauty.  Yup.  I said it.  A messy, shaky video showing "a day in the life of..." one of your office peeps is far more intriguing than bringing in a video team to show everyone in their best light.
• The longer it is, the less anyone cares.  Content length is strictly for SEO purposes.  Long-form content gives computers more data to analyze the "why" of people clicking through to your content, but people are rebelling against what can be analyzed and calculated.  So do what it takes for Google on your website, but keep it real on your social platforms.
• Stop thinking of schedules and frequency in your social platforms.  That's what calculated, scheduled posts are for.  Leave the rest to chance.  
• Be in the moment.  Your followers are.  
• What's in the past can hurt you, but what you do next is always what matters most.
• Perception is the only truth... and the only reason social media is a multi-billion dollar industry.

And for my two and final FAVORITES:

• If your followers don't dream of working for your business... you're doing it wrong.  Even if you're not out to recruit people to sign up as your next desk jockey, you are only as engaging as people perceive.  I bet you would love to work at Google, Tesla, Nike, or even the United Nations.  Why?  Implement that!
• Like a good writer, SHOW... don't tell!  "How many cups of coffee does it take to start a Monday at Spotify?"  Show me!  Engage me!  

The end.

P.S. Want someone to take care of the "regular" posting for you so you can focus 100% on representing your brand culture?  Well then I recommend these guys here: https://go.boostability.com/li/BoostSocial