Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege to watch firsthand the growth of the social media rage in the live entertainment space. A few years ago we monitored our clients’ tens of thousands of followers – today, it’s millions of followers.
What makes some brands successful in creating relationships with their customers and prospects in the social media space while others simply fall flat on their face? If you review successful brands in the social media space, I’d argue you would recognize that there is a lot more than simply luck that makes them successful. There is a consistency in values in how they approach their patrons.
Here are some of the values I’d recommend you follow that I’ve seen from clients and partners who I would say have been successful in the social media space.
Be Authentic. Love your patrons, treat your employees like gold and show a passion for what your organization does. Consumers ultimately respect actions – not marketing-speak or simply words – and ultimately attract to brands that care. There is nothing worse than a consumer taking time out of their day to send a personalized note to a brand they care about and getting a canned response back. Authenticity is probably the single biggest ingredient to building brand loyalty in the social space. Be personal and know that between your brand and the internet there is an individual – treat them like one.
Be Collaborative. Your entire organization, across all departments, must be prepared to work collaboratively. Social media conversations are not done in silos the way organizations are often structured – patrons will have questions across all functions of your business including customer service, group sales, public relations, etc. You need a collaborative environment in place to allow for communication to flow within the organization quickly.
Be Aware. The web is an open platform of information about your brand. Right now, with or without you, discussions are happening about your brand. These discussions – whether favorable or not – are valuable for you to hear, know and act upon. Brands that are aware of the conversations and are participating either directly or indirectly (could simply be listening) are the ones that ultimately adapt to the market’s voice.
Be Accountable. In a digital age, everything is trackable in one way shape or form. Assign relevant, actionable data points to each effort and then use that data to improve future campaigns.
Be Confident. “But we only have X number of followers.” Successful brands know there is much value to investing in social media engagement and only part of that value is the size of the follower list. Yes, for some, it is all about gaining followers and building engagement. For others, it’s about using it as a sales channel – for some live events, a Facebook post can yield equivalent success to the old American Express pre-sale email. Successful social brands are not affected by the internal or external pressures of the broad statement, “we need more followers.” Successful brands take “we need more followers” and add “to accomplish…”
Be Practical. Social media is just like any marketing activity in that you get out of it what you put into it. You should be practical and set realistic goals across the board. Successful change in organizations requires buy-in and getting buy-in is a tremendous challenge. Set fair expectations.
Be Proactive. “What are those folks on the message boards going to say next?” Successful brands get ahead and are proactive with messaging. They believe in and practice the “say it enough times and people will believe it” mantra. My earlier point of “be aware” is what makes brands improve their ability to anticipate the conversation.
Be Prepared. When you get slapped in the social media space, it’s the equivalent to someone calling your baby ugly. Always have a plan along with a clear chain of communication how expected issues are addressed. The unexpected will happen but successful brands know where they are most vulnerable and have a plan to respond.
Be Optimistic. We live in a very unique time where you need to be a “yes, we can” person and surround yourself with that energy. I work in an environment where we are charged to come up with ideas – big ones – and I can tell you there are always plenty more reasons that arise on why not to do an idea than why you should. Big ideas happen due to an inherent optimism that is contagious. If you believe in an idea and it makes marketing sense, take a page from Obama and preach, “yes, we can.”
Be Fearless. If you fear failure, the social media space isn’t really for you. If you work in an environment that instills fear over risk takers, consider other employment. Social media is an uncontrollable environment – uncontrollable environments are inherently risky.
One of the most important things to remember about social media is that the rules, even these, are made to be challenged and questioned. The questioning of rules is why success is this space happens.