Most businesses still see social media as the ideal group of platforms to broadcast how "awesome" their products, services, or all round business is. And in that very moment of misinterpretation and playing tennis in the dark, their social marketing fails, and they lose out on the greatest opportunity since the birth of the internet.
Tennis in the dark is hard...and pointless
Seriously try it. I bet it sucks. Yet, in business terms, we see many many many Andy Murray wannabe's on a daily basis swinging around a racquet (or racket!) in the dark. Here are some "in the dark" swing types:
- Blog posts that highlight how great product x is.
- Tweets like "Click the link to see our new video"
- Facebook posts such as "Our product is the best at...."
What are all these examples missing? A SECOND PLAYER. None of them ever mention, or even take into consideration at least one more person. Yet all of them are intended (in nothing more than a fit of hope) to ignite a response or reaction from someone.
All of the above examples are tantamount to Andy Murray serving at 2am on his home court. It's dark, empty, and no one but him will care about it.
Here are 3 reasons you might be playing in the dark:
- You don't have any friends. The social economy has caught out your hard-selling nature. No-one wants to play with you. Time to adapt.
- You don't understand who you're meant to be playing with (target audience) and thus have found yourself on the wrong courts. Start at the beginning. Who are they? What are their problems? What do they value?
- You don't understand the game of tennis. Get some help. Fast.
Play Local. Even Andy Murray started small.
The reason, I believe, that many businesses still swing and shout aimlessly is that they want the big wins and glory straight away. And, like many amateur tennis players, they believe that the harder you swing, the more likely you are to win big quicker, or be invited to play at Wimbledon sooner.
You're not. Even if you have the best racquets (biggest budget), social is a different culture, where bigger isn't always better. Instead, you're more likely to be invited to play the game, and continually improve your game, if you bring value to another group of amateur tennis players (smaller group). However, in order to be invited by them, you must first provide value to them. After all, they only need one more person, and the pool of potentials is a lot bigger than just you.
You are still understanding the business-ness of the metaphor, right? Plenty of competition, so your business has to provide value to your target audience first, before expecting anything in return - especially a large audience. Start small, it's easier to provide value to a specific audience type, than it is trying to please everyone or multiple audience types. Good, let's carry on.
True winners of this game (social business) are the ones who bring the most value, without seeking anything in return, to the other players (customers/prospects) of the game.
To stop playing alone in the dark, seek out the value requirements of those whom you want to play with. Then workout how you can provide them with such value. Your court will soon light up and fill up, and Wimbledon will be a tad closer, too.