Does your Social media marketing plan suffer from Asthma?
Yes, you read that right, does your social media marketing plan suffer from asthma? Still confused, wondering how Asthma even go into the conversation? So am I, but keep on reading, you might just learn something new about Social media today. What are the symptoms of Asthma? Wheezing is an uncomfortable situation in which an Asthmatic person experiences difficulty in breathing. Another symptom of Asthma, is shortness of breath, in which Asthmatic sufferers have been known to describe as a feeling of horror, when they feel like they are breathing through a straw or like you just cant catch your breathe. From that description one would conclude that it feels as if you are drowning, fighting for every pocket of air that you can reach. I am not a medical doctor or an asthma expert, so I will not engage you in some complex discussion on medical causes of Asthma and its treatment protocols. I am using Asthma as a focal point of my presentation to help me make some remarks about social media and the lessons that we can learn from the incurable disease called Asthma.
When one suffers from Asthma, they suffer from difficulty breathing. When is suffering from an Asthmatic attack, they experience a restriction of their airwaves and the simple activity of breathing, that non Asthmatic sufferers take for granted becomes a matter of life for them. This is a very serious matter and its one that makes every asthma sufferer worry about their health endlessly, as one never knows when they will be confronted with an Asthma attack. Needless to say, when one suffers from Asthma, they have to have a long term plan Asthma treatment management plan. This treatment plan has to be administered by a competent Medical Doctor, who is relying on sound factual scientific data as a basis for his decisions. Even though there is no cure for Asthma, you ca help prevent symptoms from occurring in the first place by taking simple steps such as.
a) Learn more about Asthma
b) Avoid things that make your Asthma worse
c) Use medicines as directed by your healthcare provider
d) If you are taking long term asthma medicine to control your symptoms, you need to make sure that you are checking in with your Doctor regularly as needed.
The key to dealing with an asthma attack is to maintain a clear air passage way, so that the asthma sufferer can be able to breath. The objective here is to keep air flow moving in and out of the patients airways. Now that we have learnt a little about Asthma, how can we apply these lessons when using social media in the market place? I am glad you asked; let us talk about the conditions that cause your social media campaigns not to work like they are supposed to.
Why do people use social media tools online? People use social media tools to interact with others. What does that mean, it means they want or have a need to communicate with people online via social media tools. They are online trying to engage in conversations with people so that they can interact with them. In other words the social media tool or platform that they are on acts as the equivalent of their airways. The interaction going on between the people or businesses promoting their brands on the internet via social media is the equivalent of an asthma breathing treatment in which air flows in and out of the asthmatic patient’s lungs. Why is this important as it pertains to usage of social media tools? Or the implementation of social media marketing strategies when marketing a brand or a business? The purpose of social media is to engage and capture information. Companies and brand managers spend a lot of money on social media marketing campaigns online in an effort to engage consumers on brand awareness. The hope is to interact with the consumer in such a way that the consumer will willingly provide their contact information, so that the business can then manage the customer’s communications through their lead management systems and sales funnels.
Businesses do not just use social media tools for no reason; they expect to get results from the use of their social media marketing strategies. A successful social media marketing campaign has to be able to breathe freely, meaning the process of collecting the consumers contact information has to be managed well so as to ensure brand loyalty and more sales in the long run. The lack of a social media marketing plan, exposes businesses to some mistakes that end up costing them huge amounts of money. In social media ignorance is not bliss, what you do not know will hurt your business as a company.
What are some of the symptoms of an asthmatic Social Media Marketing Campaign?
Air way congestion
Obviously businesses are not human beings, but like people, their brands have identities which then give them virtual personalities online. What is airway constriction when you are talking about social media? If you are using social media as a way to promote or build your brand online, and you do not have a strategy to engage your customers online, all you are doing is making noise online and people are ignoring you and your brand online. Any social media marketing strategy that does not encourage the exchange of information between the customer and the brand online, works against the business. Its called social media for a reason, in other words, you are supposed to build some sort of relationship with your customers online so your business has a legitimate basis to, earn your customers business. What is the purpose of using social media to advertise your company if you do not have a plan in place to cultivate and manage the relationships to strengthen your companies brand. People will not do business with you if they do not know you, and they will not know your brand or business if you are not engaging them. Blasting ads on your twitter and facebook profiles without a plan is not customer engagement, it’s a spam campaign, which leads to customers unsubscribing from your newsletters and giving you and your company a negative recommendation to their friends and loved ones. It is easier to tear down a brands reputation online, than it is to build it, so managing your social media strategy with a clearly defined marketing plan not only makes sense, it saves dollars and cents in the long run.
Shortness of breath
Just because you have a youtube channel or twitter account, it does not mean that you should produce a video or post a tweet every other 2 days. Take the time to evaluate the information you are disseminating to the public. If you put out too much information, you could create over exposure and turn your customers off. It’s not about the quantity of information that you are putting out, it’s about the quality of the information that you are putting out there in the market place. Are you running out of ideas and just putting out information because you think that you have to do so? Maybe you have seen how your competitors run their campaigns and the frequency with which they are putting out their information. Do not copy them just to fit in, you have no idea why they are doing what they are doing. Don’t run out of breath by not having a plan of action and relying on guesswork, it will do nothing but hurt your brands image in the long run.
Dizziness
When a person suffers an asthma attack, sometimes they also feel dizzy and they have to regroup by either using their inhaler or just taking a few moments to breathe. What is your offline strategy when it comes to social media? Is your social media strategy suffering from dizzy spell? What do I mean by this? A dizzy spell would be the same as a lack of creativity in your social media marketing plan, by that I mean, that you have tried one strategy that you thought would work, and it did not. You are now disappointed and do not know what to do, leading to frustration and confusion. Do not do the same thing over and over and expect to get different results. If your strategy is not working try something else, do not just sit there in a dizzy spell looking like you have been hypnotized. You have to be proactive with social media; you cannot just relax, and expect people to find you online. Waiting for people to arrive, is without a plan to ensure that they can find you via social media, is stupid. You are not the only one who has a business to promote online; there are millions of other businesses just like yours that are also in getting a share of the business in your marketplace. If they are not just sitting there waiting and hoping for customers to get to them, why should you?
Allergies
Most
of the times an asthma attack is triggered by an allergy, is your social media
campaign suffering from an asthmatic allergy attack? Not connecting to the
right mode of advertising for your social media campaign is the same as
experiencing an asthmatic allergy attack. Do not use the wrong advertising
campaign for the wrong demographic. Most teenagers will not read your news
letter, but they will respond to a youtube video from your youtube video social
media channel. If you do not know what method works for the demographic that
you are targeting it will lead to them ignoring you and your brand, which is
the same as if they were allergic to your brand. Do your research, learn your
allergy triggers in social media, in other words, know who your demographic is
and use the appropriate mode of advertising when running your advertising
campaigns.
This is not an asthmatic symptom but it
is relevant to the discussion.
Asthmatic
patients have to have a doctor examine them and prescribe the right form of
treatment for their condition. A doctor will not prescribe an amputation for foot
as treatment for asthma. Because that is not the right thing to do. Likewise in
social media marketing, one has to know what social media marketing strategy
fits with their advertising needs. Running multiple endless surveys on your
website, all the time without a strategic legitimate reason, makes it difficult
for you to get the targeted number of visitors to your website. It also
interferes with the quality of the interactive experience which your social
media needs to achieve to build relationships in the first place.
Not following doctor’s orders
Social
media is an interactive exercise, which requires feedback. If you are promoting
your brand online and are asking your customers for their opinions, you have to
be mature enough to accept the feedback. How will you know what complaints your
customers have with your brand or company? Blocking of legitimate negative
feedback from your customers on your social media platforms, is not good for
your brands credibility. Read your customers legitimate critical comments about
your company and address the issues that your customers are talking about.
Waiting too long to respond to your customer’s complaints on your social media
profile, only makes those negative comments stay on your profile longer and it
attracts others to also post their negative comments on your profile as well.
For
an asthmatic patient, the thought of a surprise asthmatic attack is terrifying.
The key to managing these asthmatic attacks begins with knowing their own
bodies. Ignoring signs of potential asthmatic attack triggers could be a costly
mistake that could cost them their life. Likewise when it comes to social
media, one has to pay attention to new developments in the market place. This
starts with you managing your social media profile activity on your various
social media accounts. Priorities your social media objectives to match the
needs of your business or brand, meaning, you have to recognize what the
reasons for your customers feedback are. For instance it is more important for your
brands health to make sure that you know what your businesses weak points are
and address them, as opposed to trying to please everyone online and losing
everyone. Is it more important for your brands image to have more likes on your
facebook page, than to address the negative comments being left on your blog by
your online visitors? You have to deal with both equally and keep the
reputation of your brand or business in good standing. Lack of understanding of
how social media works will hurt your brand and business image if you do not
know how to manage your social media resources.
Disregarding Doctors appointments
While
that is not an asthma symptom, it plays a very important role in the management
of Asthma for an asthmatic patient. Similarly in social media, omitting some
important social media practices would be the same as disregarding doctor’s
appointments. Treatments change so do medical prescriptions that your doctor
writes. Keeping up with doctors appointments is a proactive action that helps in
managing the asthmatic condition. In social media there is no fixed strategy,
one has to adapt and revisit the drawing board constantly to keep up with the
changes occurring. A doctor changes his treatment plan any time as he sees fit,
because the disease is dynamic. Similarly, in social media, you have to make
adjustments with your social media marketing and advertising strategies. One
size does not fit all. Sometime you have to try doing press releases in
addition to your facebook and twitter feeds. Get proactive with your brand,
write a short engaging story about your business and release it on a press
release website. The good news is that you can avoid these social media
pitfalls by asking for a customized social media plan for your business or
brand. Do not depend on guesswork when it comes to your brands social media strategy;
get a customized Global Social Mobile plan for your business today.
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