how to be relevant to your audience in 140 characters

HOW  TO  BE  RELEVANT  TO  YOUR  AUDIENCE  IN  140  CHARACTERS?      SANJAY  MEHTA,  JOINT  CEO,  SOCIAL  WAVELENGTH  (@SM63)  

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SO  HOW  OFTEN  HAVE  YOU  SEEN  THESE??  

AND  WHERE  ARE  THESE  SEEN?  

YES  YES  

YES  YES  YES  

BUT..  

THESE  ALSO  APPEAR  ELSEWHERE..!  

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So  when  these  come  on                and      

Why  does  Social  Media  content  seem  like  it’s  markeIng  copy??  

•  Because  most  social  media  acIvity  is  markeIng  driven  

•  And  there  is  a  strong  markeIng  legacy  

•  This  is  the  one  way  copy  has  been  wriOen  by  marketers  forever!  Old  habits  die  hard..    

•  Except  it  doesn’t  work  now..  At  least  not  on  Social  Media  

I  am  not  here  for  your  markeIng  spiel  

I  have  come  to  social  media  to  get  away  from  these!  

I  get  enough  of  this  wherever  I  turn  –  TV,  hoardings  etc..!  

Here  I  can  unlike,  block,  ban,  report  spam..!  

38  million  acIve  Indian  Facebook  users…    

•  ..  Are  NOT  tuned  into  your  Facebook  page  •  They  come  there  by  choice  •  Or  they  got  lured  there  by  your  ads  •  BUT  they  are  NOT  obliged  to  see  your  posts,  or  like  them,  or  even  like  your  page  itself  

•  They  can  ignore..  That’s  bad  •  They  can  unlike..  That’s  worse  •  They  can  bad-­‐mouth..  That’s  worst  •  And  the  reality  is..  They  can  do  ALL  of  those!    

Which  means..  

•  You  need  a  beOer  content  strategy  on  social  media  

•  You  need  to  give  a  lot  more  respect  to  your  fans,  and  others  who  access  your  content  

•  You  need  to  fundamentally  offer  value  to  them  •  Value  could  be  of  any  type  –  informaIon,  entertainment,  services,  love,  respect,  help  

•  In  short,  you  need  to  be  RELEVANT  to  your  fans  

Another  reason  for  being  relevant?  

•  The  Facebook  algorithm  –  this  phenomenon  called  Edgerank  

•  “If  you  are  not  interesIng,  you  will  become  even  less  interesIng..”  –  yes,  ironical  as  it  may  be,  Facebook  is  unforgiving  and  ruthless..  

•  Fix,  or  become  totally  irrelevant  

So  what  is  the  meaning  of  relevance?  

•  So,  you  are  an  FMCG  company…    

•  Just  to  be  ‘relevant’  to  your  fans..    •  And  because  they  like  these  topics..    •  Will  you  start  talking  about:    

•  Anna  Hazare,  Sunny  Leone,  Rahul  Gandhi,  MayawaI,  Saif-­‐Kareena,  Sachin  Tendulkar,  etc.?    

•  Relevance  for  fans,  NOT  at  cost  of  relevance  for  brand..    

RELEVANT  RELEVANCE!!!  

What  about  EmoIonal  Connect?  

•  Is  it  possible  on  Social  Media?  •  “Will  you  miss  it,  if  it’s  gone?”  

•  Let’s  look  at  another  litmus  test…    

•  2-­‐3  months  into  the  existence  of  a  brand  Facebook  page..    

•  Will  your  fans  recognize  your  content  to  be  yours,  even  without  your  DP  /  brand  name??    

So  what  should  your  content  plan  cover?    

•  Evolving  a  theme  –  a  kind  of  raison  d’etre  for  the  brand,  on  social  media  

•  Theme:  content  rich,  long  lasIng,  interesIng,  good  angles  to  branch  out  to,  storytelling    

•  Easier  when  a  tagline  lends  itself:  Just  do  it  

•  For  rest,  say  Titan:  Always  on  Ime  •  Coke:  Life’s  a  fizz,  or  VW:  A  Smooth  Ride  

Once  a  theme  is  in  place  

•  Figure  out  broad  manifestaIons  on  content  •  What  kind  of  a  person  would  talk  this?    

•  Define  the  personality  of  the  talker  •  Stay  consistent  to  the  personality  •  Stay  focused  on  the  content  style    •  Find  a  way  to  weave  back  brand  agenda    •  Review  regularly,  tweak,  improve  -­‐  ongoing  

And  is  it  working?  

•  Facebook  insights:  Data,  data,  data  

•  Benchmark  key  numbers    

•  Tweak  •  Long  term  consistency  

In  Conclusion,  remember..  

•  You  are  taking  a  live  lecture  •  You  are  performing  to  an  audience  

•  You  are  entertaining  in  real  Ime  

•  It  is  indeed  your  reality  show  •  And  the  audience  can  either  stay  or  go  away!  

QUESTIONS??  

Sanjay  Mehta  Joint  CEO,  Social  Wavelength  

www.socialwavelength.com  smehta@socialwavelength.com                    @sm63