Supplying Social Media’s Oxygen

A quote I saw recently summed up my belief about the marketer’s key role in social media.  It said:

“Content is social media’s oxygen.”

I said it about as simply in my book, “It’s The Customer, Stupid!”:  When it comes to communicating in the digital world, “content is king.”

Once the customer finds an organization’s website, blog, Facebook page, Twitter site, etc., you want him or her to return often so you can continue to build the relationship.  Therefore, content is critical.  If it stays the same with each visit the customer will get bored and stop coming.  Give the customers something fresh to see when they return.

Changing content will stimulate interest, as scientists have discovered.  As an example, they cite the placement of mobiles over babies’ cribs.  Few parents read the instructions for installing a mobile for their infant.  But if they did, they would note the direction to change the mobile’s position around the crib every few days.  This difference in positioning will stimulate the baby’s brain to process the change and consider it in a new way.  In the same manner, organizations have to keep their social media sites dynamic and current so that visitors don’t become conditioned to them and ignore the messaging.

New and interesting content also will help customers stick around.  That’s what online marketers call the site’s “stickiness,” – an actual measure of the duration of the visitor’s visit and, therefore, a way to judge the site’s effectiveness.  The longer visitors stay on your site, the more chance you have to earn their trust, build loyalty, or make a sale.

Customers are looking for advice or information to help them make informed decisions, not hard-selling advertising or PR fluff.  They expect the organization to be a reliable source.  Quality content is a company’s entrée into the consumer’s world.  This content driven relationship is needed because most consumers today trust their friends more than they trust companies or marketers.  Trusted content enables the company to establish credibility and build stronger, longer-lasting relationships.

Of course, it goes without saying that the content must be truthful. Today’s customer is very smart.  Any attempt to mislead or obfuscate by the organization will lead to mistrust or disqualification.  Even more damaging, some very mainstream companies have been hit with multimillion dollar settlements for false claims on their social media.

For online content to build brand loyalty, move customers to action, and bring them back for more, it must be easy to understand and easy to access.  In a sense, online you must act more like a journalist than a marketer, supplying interesting, well-written and believable content.  You must supply the oxygen to keep your social media alive.

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