Distance

There’s a distance between your brand and your consumers. Are you comfortable with the distance that you’re choosing to maintain?

Hate to say it, but social media is widening the gap between the companies and brands that choose to engage and those that do not. By not engaging in social media, your brand is making a statement. Actually, your brand is making a number of statements, specifically:

1. We’re not interested in you – Take your opinions elsewhere, thank you very much

2. No, you may not enter – What we do behind closed doors is our business, not yours

3. The rules of engagement are ours, not yours – Don’t call us, we’ll call you

4. We don’t have much to say – And, we really don’t have time to listen either

How does that compare to those brands that engage? Brands that engage in social media state:

1. We’re checking you out too – Tell us more about yourself

2. Come on in – Thank you for your interest…as part of our inner circle of friends, we’ll offer you special deals and let you in on some ‘behind the scenes’ information…after all, we’re friends

3. The rules of engagement are shared – It’s a healthy relationship, our company is made up of people just like you

4. This brand is hopping – We have to share the exciting news with you, after all you’re the reason we exist in the first place

Many companies still choose to look at social media as an extra, an add-on that we’ll get to when things are not so darn busy. Engaging in social media is choosing to go the extra step. Think about your favorite brands. Don’t they deliver a bit more than what you originally expected of them and isn’t that why they’re your favorite brands?

Social media engagement – your choice!