Enchanting - minus the fairy tale... (Part 1)

Guy Kawasaki, the author of Enchantment, gives us a few tips on how to enchant people with social media.
 
He says that there are three pillars to observe when engaging with social media and the first of which is to always be a likable, friendly, positive person when talking to your audience. As in the real world, you would pay more attention, or in his terms, be more enchanted by a person you actually like.

Being likable involves an appropriate smile, something like a duchenne smile, as Guy describes it. Another thing that could make you seem more likable is to dress appropriately. Everyone likes looking and talking to people who are smiling and well dressed.
 
The second pillar is to be trustworthy. Show people you can be trusted by showing them that you trust them, and they will in turn, trust you back. A company that Guy mentions here is Zappos, an online retail company that pays for shipping fees for their merchandise, both ways! By having this unique policy, they have earned the trust of many as when their shoppers are dissatisfied with their products, they can simply send it back for free.
 
The third pillar is for all your products and services to have the DICEE characteristics; which stand for: deep, intelligent, complete, empowering, and elegant. To greater emphasize this, let's take a look at Macintosh. As compared to Windows OS, Macs bring out the creativity in someone and don't hinder their thinking with complex applications and tools; in other words, an example of a deep, empowering brand.
 
Another example is the Ford Mustang; it is described intelligent and complete because of their special 'key' features. Certain keys specifically designed for the youth so that the car can only accelerate up to a certain speed that the parent sets for it.
 
Once you have established these three pillars, then you can start taking note of the other key points for enchanting an audience using social media. They are as follows:
 
You should always be answering, especially on Twitter. This is the fourth tip to pay attention to when engaging with social media; it is one of the easiest ways to enchant people. Make sure to reply to everyone, whether that somebody is a nobody or Brad Pitt. Remember that the 'nobodies' of yesterday are today's somebodies! Replies ensure that you pay attention to your followers/fans and make them like/trust you :) The fifth tip that Guy mentions is to always remember to say thank you. Growing up, our parents always reminded us of the simple, yet very powerful act of thanks; the same goes in the lines of social media. A simple thank you to everyone who praises you will definitely go a long way.
 
Are we at Drive Social Media enchanting? We would love to know!
 
More soon :-)

Ayna Gonzales

Marketing Executive
Drive Social Media

Prospects will be IN-TE-REST-ED...

John McGrann

“The truth is Mr Client you are so boring!”

That probably sounds a bit harsh doesn’t it? But in some cases it’s true. Some businesses are boring and lifeless. My guess would be less than 5% of them. They are in industries which attract little interest. I wouldn’t care to name them though. 

As for the rest, they have no excuse. They are interesting to many of their stakeholders.  Their products, services and people are interesting. So why do many of these businesses still complain that people are not interested in their Facebook page or LinkedIn group or blog, for example? In other words they are boring!  In fact, they appear boring – although in reality and offline they can be very interesting. Simply, they are boring online only – it is just their online content that is boring.

Great content is essential for success in leveraging social media for business. Yes you need a strategy and you need to be out there in the right places. Growing a large social media network is a must so you can connect with your targeted audience. But connections alone are of little value. You have to engage your connections – talk to them. Great content facilitates that engagement – now we have something to talk about.

Some clients are slow about opening up and that is understandable. They are cautious. That’s fine, as over time confidence will grow. When their content is shared online the benefits can be magnified many times as fans and followers share their content. 

So what is Great Content? Here is an aid my team use to generate it themselves and from our clients.

What do you think?

More Soon!

John McGrann

CEO Drive Social Media