The Religion of Social Networking– Strategies for incredible growth
When advertisers and marketing types are hired to launch a new product or business brand, they know the chances of success are daunting. Only 1 out of every 50 new products survives the first year and the success/fail rate for new business is even worse. To increase the chance of having staying power and making it through that first year and beyond takes a great product or service but it also takes notoriety and brand recognition. Businesses are looking to make their brand “stick.” If your brand is “sticky,” the next time a buyer is shopping for the type of service or product you provide, there is greater chance they will choose you over the competition. Ever wonder what makes Twitter a success? How about Facebook? Why did the Apple iPod stick and the Microsoft Zune fail? Why do people buy Coke when Pepsi wins every taste test?
Most iconic brands and fads have mystical, religious-like similarities. This is no coincidence. I was recently reading Buyology, a book about a first of its kind neurological study analyzing the link between brain activity and consumer buying habits. What the study found was specific regions of the brain are activated when you think of a specific product or service? The study also found that volunteers exposed to strong un-smashable brands like Apple, Coca Cola, iPod and Harley Davidson stirred an identical reaction in the brain as when the subjects were shown religious icons. Iconic brands target or channel these religious themes to create loyalty and increase their brand recognition and strength. It got me thinking about the similarities between social networking and religious themes and how a business could make their brand “stick” by incorporating these principles into their marketing plan. Recognition of these themes and incorporating them into your advertising and marketing plan will separate you from the rest of the crowd and bring your business unprecedented growth and exposure.
Sense of belonging: What if I invited you to a party where you could meet thousands of potential new clients and keep in touch with all of your existing clients? Would you attend? Millions of people log on to the social networking party every day. YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, WordPress are just some of the most popular communities. Has anyone ever asked you “Are you ‘on’ Facebook?” If “on” a social networking site, you are part of a community of likeminded individuals looking to communicate their message and stay informed with up to the second information. If you are not using social networking, here is a fact you should keep in mind. The competition, your competition, is and you are now playing catch up. Consumers have a sense of belonging to the collective club when using and interacting on the various social networking sites and their guard is down. Capitalize on this to get the story out about your brand. Keep in mind, you are what you publish.
Clear vision: Consumers want information now. In less than 2.5 seconds, most buying decisions are made. Twitter forces you to state your message in 140 characters or less. These are the rules, no exceptions; get in, get out. In today’s message cycle, you had better get your message out quickly and concisely or you will be ignored. We talk faster, shop faster and even walk faster. That’s right, we actually walk faster. The latest research shows the average pedestrian walks at 3.5 mph, twenty percent faster than a decade ago. You must have a clear vision of who your customer is, what they want to hear and, using your customer’s language, present your message in a concise, entertaining and unique format.
Power over our enemies: Many religions include stories of how an enemy was conquered and good triumphed over evil. The same applies to the daily battle for market share on social media outlets to get your voice heard so you may triumph over the competition. How many followers do you have on Twitter? How many hits did your video get on YouTube? How many friends do you have on Facebook? How about LinkedIn connections? This is a competition to gain power in the community of gatherers we call social networking and the power of this marketing weapon is strong and far reaching. Ashton Kuchar just past 3 million followers and counting on Twitter. Is your following growing or is it stagnant?
Sensory appeal: The mere mention of The Sistine Chapel can stir strong thoughts and feelings in most of us. Think of the smell of a church and the visual stimuli of seeing the pews lay out before you as you enter a place of worship. Sensory and emotional stimulation is a big part of consumer spending and should play an integral role in the delivery of your company’s message. Now more than ever before, social networking gives you, the small business owner an opportunity to communicate with existing and potential customers alike without spending a dime.
If you own a business in a service industry like me, then you know the days of phone book advertising are numbered. I know, people will always use the phone book. Yeah, and people will always use pay phones too. Have you seen any pay phones recently? By creating a compelling social network following you automatically increase the sensory appeal of your brand and thus increase the stickiness of the product or service you are trying to sell. Print is good, video is better. Video is good, video with great audio is better. Combine multiple sensory delivery mediums with a unique, compelling message and the results can be staggering. For example, The “Wedding Dance” video saw over four million hits in less than a week on YouTube and the “Evolution of Dance” is at 109 million hits and counting. Can you imagine the overnight success your product or service could be with the right message at the right time? This is the new normal, people want video, pictures, print and they want it now.
Storytelling: Many of the world’s religions have unforgettable stories intertwined with their history and message. These stories have helped to keep the message alive for future generations and solidify their place in world culture. Social networking gives you the opportunity to tell your story in your words to help you solidify your brand. Are you currently publishing a blog to help separate yourself from the competition? Do you have an electronic newsletter? This is a great way to retain the clients you currently have by staying in front of them quarterly and telling them your story. People want to do business with folks they know. Your business should have a clear message to enable you to hit your target market and have consumers recognize your brand as the industry leader. What story are you telling?
If you cast a wider net, you will catch more fish. The most important two things to a small business is getting new clients and retaining the clients it has currently. Assuming you have identified who your customer is, you must now shift your focus to getting that customer to come calling and then expand your relationship. As we have already established, today’s consumer is searching the web prior to making their next buying decision and, once on the web, they’re making their decision quickly. After reading this, you may be thinking, ‘ The web is just for the younger crowd, my customer’s do not use social networking.’ Really, then why is the 35-54 year old demographic the fastest growing segment on Facebook? Still don’t believe your customer is using social networking? How about the fact that 75% of all internet users use social networking. Social networking is not a fad or a “phase,” this is the new normal. As a small business owner, take some time to see how expanding your presence in social networking could help expand your business and grow your brand. You never know, it could be the difference between a thriving business or just being another listing in the phone book.
