While social media may give power into the hands of individuals so everyone is a publisher, businesses often forget that social media is not about them. The “ME” in social media refers to individual consumers, not to you personally. Social media allows every consumer to have a voice, to tell their story, to be heard. By respecting the “me” in social media to be individual consumers, companies are more likely to be a part of an engaged and interactive community.
There’s Value for You too
The value of social media for companies is in the ability to interact with individual customers, have conversations, get feedback, and reach a niche target audience much more cost-effectively than with traditional media. When you respect your audience, by actually having conversations and providing valuable content, instead of just marketing and advertising, social media will provide you with powerful connections and feedback.
Meeting the “ME” Needs of Your Audience
You may not know exactly how to meet the needs of your audience. The great thing about social media is that you can listen and ask. By using searches on various social networks and search engines, you can listen in on conversations that are happening about your brand, products and industry. When you think about other topics that your audience is interested in, you also open the door to a more value that you can provide. If you’re still not sure, connect with your audience and ask them, both individually and as a group.
A little “me” is ok too
Once you’re interacting and engaging and providing the “ME” needs of your audience, it’s ok to throw in a little bit of “me” needs too. Everyone expects businesses to throw in a little bit of promotion and advertising, it just shouldn’t be anywhere near the major portion of your content. I like to tell companies to stick to the 80-20 rule (or the 90-10 rule is even better), where 80-90% of your content is interaction and adds value to your audience (“ME” needs) and only 10-20% is promotional (the “me” needs). Yes, you still have to meet the “me” needs in order for social media to provide a return, just remember to keep it to a minimum.
Remember what the “me” needs are
The “me” needs of your company aren’t just marketing and advertising, you’re also getting valuable feedback and information for sales, customer service and product development. Don’t sacrifice these more important “me” needs by overdoing it on the promotions. Some companies never really do any promotional content because being engaged with their audience is extremely valuable. Find and strike whatever balance makes sense for your company.
How do you balance the “ME” needs of your customer with the “me” needs of your company?
(image by Velvet Von Grimm)