Your audience will come to you. Give them time. It’s not going to happen all at once, so be patient. Social media & blogging can be done in a “pull” fashion rather than aggressive, self-serving “push” tactics. Treat your audience with respect and let them make the decision when to buy from you.
Given the opportunity that we have to connect with our audience, it drives me crazy that people abuse the privilege. Think of all the aggressive tactics you see every day: Pop-up ads (let me read the damn article!); TV commercials juiced by 6-12 dB (stop screaming at me!); and auto-DMs on Twitter. Everyone’s just deploying robots to interrupt us, yell at us, and expect us to actually like them? With me, you are having the opposite effect. I think less of you, I will never buy from you, and I will speak ill of you to my friends and followers.
Then there are the lies, the whitewashing, and the spin. Just tell us the truth. The real truth, not some dressed up half-truth.
I’m going to find out anyway from checking in with my peers—your current and/or former customers. They’re going to tell me like it is. And guess what? If that doesn’t match up with what you say about yourself, then I’m going to think less of you as well.
In other words, there’s no hiding in today’s world. So how about we start our relationship—brand to consumer—on strong footing? Why don’t we start with honesty, and see where it goes?
Or you can try to force your priorities on me. Go for the quick sale. Maintain your short-term thinking. If that’s working for you, good for you. But in today’s world, powered by the network, word-of-mouth scales. Is that going to be a long-term asset to you—or a risk? It’s your call.
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In this week’s episode, I take a short break from my Social Media Strategy Series to talk about how to rise above the noise with honesty and integrity.
