| 
Jul 11, 2012

Basic Social Media Mistake Everyone Makes

Why don't more people "like" your business on Facebook or follow it on Twitter? Simple: Your perspective is all wrong.

Getty

 

You constantly extend your virtual handshake in every possible direction... yet no one embraces it. Very few people follow, connect, or "like" you.

Why?  Simple: You're looking in the wrong mirror.

This is the fourth in my series where I choose a topic, pick someone smarter than me (finding smarter people is turning out to be way easier than my ego prefers), and we trade emails. To find other articles in the series, go here, here, and here.

This time I talked to Shama Kabani, the founder and CEO of The Marketing Zen Group and the author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing.

Shama's premise: Most social media marketing efforts fail because, at a fundamental level, people don't use social media to connect with businesses--or even with each other. People use social media to showcase their own identities.

Jeff: You realize this premise is completely opposite from what most people think? Social media is supposed to be about connection, not reflection. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Shama: And that's why most businesses get poor results. A social site is as much a digital mirror as it is a social platform. Connection starts with understanding the meaning and impact of that reflection.

Jeff: You're going to have to explain that.

Shama: I did my graduate thesis on Twitter back when it only had a few thousand users. My first questions were, "Why would people tweet? Why would they share what they are doing?"

While I was doing the research I had this light bulb moment. My original hypothesis was that we use social media to connect with each other, but I found the primary reason we use social media is to showcase our own identities.

Jeff: So we're all a bunch of narcissists.

Shama: It's not narcissistic at all. It's like in kindergarten (in a good way): You're having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the kid next to you says he likes peanut butter and jelly, then he says he likes blue crayons, and you like blue crayons... that's how we make friends and become who we are. We showcase our identities, and based on the reflection or reaction of other people, we tweak our identities.

The same is true when you're a teenager and, say, your friends like rock music. They wear certain clothes... so you do, too.

The only difference is that now all that is online. Think about Facebook profiles; Facebook really gets the idea that people, first and foremost, want to showcase who they are. Social media is like a mirror we hold up to show how we are unique and special.

It's like we're decorating the inside of our lockers again. We just transferred that to the Web.

The platforms have changed, but the principles of how we behave and how we express ourselves? Not really.

Jeff: I get that. A friend loves to add stuff to his Facebook timeline. I tease him because he acts like a painter finishing a masterpiece. When he's done he's a little too pleased with himself. (I know you said it's not narcissistic, but in his case I'm not so sure.)

But I'm not sure how understanding that helps a business improve its social media marketing efforts.

Shama: Here's how. Most companies still focus on the secondary aspect: Getting them to connect with us. Too many companies say, "Business is about marketing and branding. We will create a brand. We will tell people who we are."

That's backwards. Realizing that social media is a mirror forces companies to think not about what they want their brand to be, but what their brand says about the individual.

And that's why a cupcake shop can rack up more likes than a major corporation. Liking the little cupcake shop down the street says something about me as an individual: Maybe they only use organic ingredients and that's important to me. Or maybe they donate a portion of their revenue to a charity I support. In some way, that cupcake shop is a reflection of my identity and an extension of my identity brand. It reflects something I see in myself.

Liking a big company... what does that do for me? Not much. What does that say about me? Nothing.

Jeff: That's probably why I've never felt compelled to "like" a big company. (Maybe that's why I don't even have a Facebook account?)

Plus there's the association factor. If I like a fast-food chain I'm not going to declare it publicly. I'm not going to like an athlete's foot powder or a dandruff shampoo or adult diapers. (Not that I need any of those!) That would not only say something about me, it would say too much about me.

But I would like my local bike shop because they lead local bicycle advocacy efforts, help build new trails... and they're great guys. So liking them would say something I would feel good about saying.

Shama: For a business, what matters most is not what your brand says about you--it's what your brand says about the people you want to interact with.

The heart of building a community, whether you're a B2B or a B2C, is recognizing what that community cares about. It's not manipulative, it's not sneaky--it's the most authentic way to brand your business and grow a following online.

 1 | 2  NEXT 


Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he worked his way up in the manufacturing industry. Everything else he picks up from ghostwriting books for some of the smartest leaders he knows in business. @jeff_haden