We’ve all met “that guy” before. It might have been at work, maybe at a conference, maybe a party. You know the one: the person who barely bothers to make note of your name before starting in about all the greatest things about themselves — things you have no interest in whatsoever.
After about 30 seconds, you realize, “Wow, I’ve got to go!” No one ever wants to be “that guy” — but unfortunately, it’s all too easy for him to take over in our social media marketing.
If no one wants to be “that guy,” where does he come from? There are a couple of things that can go wrong, and they provide good lessons for more effective marketing and communication. Let’s take a look:
They ignore what the listener wants.
Is anyone really that impressed hearing about the world travels and adventures of the loudest talker at a party? Nope, and your marketing audience doesn’t really care about how great you think you are, either. They care about what you can do for them — how you can solve a problem that they need solved. When you can explain that, you’re on the road to marketing success.
They don’t do their homework.
The news, sports, pop culture — these are all a kind of shared language that can get the ball rolling in a conversation. If you don’t know what’s going on in the world — or in your industry — you’ll resort to what you do know — what’s going on with you. Unfortunately, that root canal you had in March isn’t a good opener. If you’re not sure what to post about on your social media or blog, skip the sales pitch fallback and share something interesting and relevant to your prospects and customers.
They can’t tell a story.
“Just the facts:” great catchphrase, terrible way to communicate. Flavoring a case study or blog post with relatable details — describing an experience, rather than droning on that “this happened, then this happened” and so on — is proven to leave a more lasting impression on your audience.
They showed up to the wrong party.
Can you blame “that guy” if he’s just in the wrong place? If he didn’t take the time and effort to get to the right place, then the answer is yes. Think of your social media community the same way. You want to make sure you’ve got the right audience when deciding who to connect with. Quality is infinitely more important than quantity — not only will they be much more receptive to what you have to share and say, but they’re also much more qualified as potential business partners in the future.
Need help standing out on social media (for the right reasons)?
A strategic social media strategy can be an asset for any manufacturing company. If you need help establishing your strategy, or have questions about industrial marketing in general, contact our team today.
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