Three tricks get out of the social weeds

Q1 is such a great time of year for me. I am so full of energy. Ready to tackle new challenges. I am full of hopes of new customers, plans to connect with them and strategies to engage with them. So hopeful. So hopeful, indeed. It isn’t until about midway through Q1 that I start to notice that as a group, we tend to get mired in the weeds and details. Sifting through content calendars, blog posts, social updates and Twitter responses. We became very busy with how things are worded and legal approvals. And before the smell of spring is in the air, we are so standing so close to the proverbial tree, staring so intently that we are getting a bark imprint on our face.
It is so hard to not get mired down in the weeds of all of the details of marketing a product or service. We have goals and directives to meet. Lead generation campaigns to launch, marketing automation branches to define. Emails to write. But we will never meet any of our directives or goals if we are standing right up on top of the tree.
We need to remember the forest of customers. It is the customer that makes achieving those goals and directives possible. Because when we step away from the tree and the minutia of delivering marketing, we are able to see better where we can add value to the customer AND meet our goals. The bark of the tree is your brand. The forest is where your brand answers a consumer need and if we are busy with the tree all the time, we will miss the opportunities of the forest.
So, here are three ways for you to step away from the bark:

Hear her.

While you are busy reading posts about your brand, it is very easy to only hear your brand name. When you read it again, remove your brand from the comment and really hear her. What is she saying? Does she need answers? Is she comparing you to others? When you really hear her without the burdens of your brand, you can begin to form an understanding what she needs. When you hear her and understand her, you can give her information and tools to be successful. That is if you have those tools or that information. If you don’t, you now know what you need to do to help her and make her an advocate for you.

Stop marketing…just for a second.

Marketing is selling, really. Maybe soft selling, but it is part of the funnel. And when we are our most honest, we admit, people do not like being sold to very much. When we are in the weeds, we are focused on driving sales, or leads, or engagement. Basically, we are trying to get other people to do something they would not naturally do. And when you’re in the weeds, that’s what it is, but, when you stop marketing for a second, you can see the forest for the opportunity it holds and can see ways you might be able to add value. Adding value is selling today and it works. When you’re in the weeds, stop marketing and start looking for ways to be a helpful resource to her. People like helpful. They buy from helpful.

Take off your brand hat

When I am in the weeds with some marketing project and I am totally stuck, I ask myself would I do/use/buy/click/register? If the answer is “no”, I need to revisit the strategy as a person, not a marketer. I think about what I would need in this product and how I would use it and what I would pay for it. It is a good starting point, but in order to do this, you have to remove your brand hat because that clouds the judgment a little. If you are unable to do this, call your best friend or mom and ask them. They can give you some insights that you might not otherwise get.
Too frequently we are so close to the brand tree bark that we forget that we need to meet a consumer need and if we are not meeting that need, the brand will languish. Being a nimble marketer is important and if you can remember to get out of the weeds every now and then, we will see greater success for our brands.

AVOID A SOCIAL CRISIS WITH ONE SIMPLE QUESTION

There is so much fear wrapped up in social media for brands. Fear from legal, compliance, leadership, sales, marketing, technology, you name it and they are all a little scared of it in some way. And I have found through so many conversations with people who want to do a good job at social that the fear is all around making a mistake. Brands are terrified of becoming the next <insert latest brand who messed up in social>. Fear in humans causes insulin to pump through our bodies and produces fight or flight. We react in dramatic ways to fear. We can dodge fists or throw them ourselves. But, fear in brands causes paralysis. And in social, paralysis might be worse than making a gaffe. Brands want a social safety net. It is the #1 reason real time marketing isn’t adopted en mass today. There is no fail-safe. But then I realized, I have the answer.

Before I get there, you should know, in my personal and professional life I have a rather famous retort for people who say dumb, offensive, racist, sexist, or generally tacky stuff to me. It’s called “The Out-Loud Voice”. It goes like this: “Tracey, those glasses look terrible on you.” Me: “Oh, I’m sorry, but maybe you didn’t know. That was your out-loud voice.” It is shockingly effective in getting people to realize they should have considered an internal monologue for such thoughts. Because sometimes not everything that passes through the brain pan needs to be expressed externally. And as evidenced by years of experience using this retort, it totally works. And I realized, with the help of Nichole and Falls, that this should be a concept employed by social media community managers everywhere. Let’s call it: The “Out-Loud Voice” litmus test. And with that, a social media fail-safe is born!

In real time, the Out-Loud Voice litmus test it is a quick affirmation that could be the last check before something is posted online. And let’s be honest, what you post on social as a brand is very much out loud even if it is only written word. And without a doubt, most branded social media gaffes could have been prevented with this test. If the last person to read a post before it was approved and went live, took a look and said; “Hmmm, if I said this out loud in the middle of Manhattan (Kansas), would I offend a segment of the population?” If the answer is “Yes. Yes it would offend a segment of Manhattan, Kansas.” Or even if it is a “It is possible that if I said this out loud a segment of the population would be offended.” Then, it doesn’t go live.

It is a simple test. Takes 30 seconds to implement and can save lives! OK, maybe not lives, but it could certainly save jobs! The Onion, Home Depot, Kenneth Cole…the list goes on and on, but, had any of these brands applied the out-loud voice test, they may have saved hours of time apologizing for their poor taste and the damage to the brand. Not to mention the countless blog posts calling them out on a large-scale #fail.

OUT-LOUD VOICE TEST PRIMER

When to apply the “Out-Loud Voice” test:

All. The. Time. You should apply this test to any update, response to a customer, blog post, tweet, email, LinkedIn group comment. Basically, it is the old American Express slogan of social media posts. “The Out-Loud Voice test, don’t use social without it.”

How to apply the “Out-Loud Voice” test:

You see, as more and more brands adopt real-time marketing; the out-loud voice litmus test is an incredibly valuable tool. For example: You’re a community manager. You see something that is happening in pop culture and it might be begging for a quippy, even snarky social media post. You craft a post. Then, you re-read the post and ask: “If this were in my out-loud voice, would I offend a wide swath of our customers?” And then post accordingly.

Who should use the “Out-Loud Voice” test:

Everyone. Community managers, leaders, interns, customer service and agencies should all be using this test to manage their communications with customers. Basically, the entire world could benefit from this short test. Let’s be honest, this is not just good for brands, it is good for people too. I would be very happy to never, ever read another insane rant from someone I went to high school with, but I digress. The point is the Out-Loud Voice test is good for everyone and would make social media a better place.

The Out-Loud Voice test: Love it. Use it. Live it.