In social media you really only have one thing to set you apart from your competition…content. Now content is a pretty encompassing word and I guess you could say in life all that you have to set yourself apart is the content of your actions, the content of your beliefs, the content you speak, and so on.
So to be more specific the only content that will set you apart in social media is buyer centric content …content that speaks to your prospects in their voice from their perspective. The old adage that there is no “I” in team applies here because you and your prospect form a team. And just like a coach seeks to get his team to perform at a high level, you need to get buyers to to take action.
You never heard this pre-game speech in the locker room. “Team today is a great opportunity. We have a chance to do something important. If we win I will have reached an incentive clause in my contract that will pay me an additional $50,000. In addition there is a likelihood that the big state university will hire me to fill their vacant head coaching job. We are going to win this game if for no other reason than its important to me.”
Don’t do the same by using social media to sell you or your products. Instead use it to educate, inform, and solve problems. And these are not the problems that you see but the problems that prospects see. Often as marketers what we think are the problems to be solved are not the problems our customers are trying to solve.
Then once you have the right perspective you just need to ensure that your content is:
- Interesting
- Exciting
- Valuable
Its not hard to hit at least one of these three but remember that headlines can capture interest or generate excitement, but if the content you drive people to fails to live up to those expectations (no value delivered) you failed even though you achieved one or two.
The surest way to ensure that your content meets all three is to create your content based on what your prospects hope to accomplish, solve, attain, eliminate, etc. Show them how to solve a problem and they will be interested, excited to eliminate the problem, and will find value in your content.
You’re the coach, now go out there and fire up your team.
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