Question: Is it okay for a B2B or any business for that matter to create and share content that is more “Personal” in nature? If so, how should we approach this as part of our content strategy?
I was speaking with a client the other day and he said to me, “It is funny, we post stuff on our Facebook page all of the time and it drives a like or two and maybe a comment if we are lucky.”
To which I responded about how common that is because there is so much content out there and so many businesses are promoting their content on their owned media sites. Heck, even a lot of really useful and valuable content gets lost in the shuffle.
His reply was in the form of an anecdote. He shared with me a recent story about a Facebook conversation he had on his personal account regarding how we as parents broke the news about Santa to our kids. He told me about the 80 or so comments and the back and forth and the continued conversation that it drove. He was so elated about this that he said, we have to do more of “That” on our business page.
All I could think to myself is please don’t post about Religion on your business Facebook Page. Maybe for some industries, but not this one which is a tech oriented business.
Anyhow, his thoughts weren’t to post about Santa either, but what he did bring to the surface is something that is more important than many businesses realize when it comes to building trust and engagement with an audience.
Since Trust is really the result we seek through our content, then what are some of the conduits to building trust?
Of course there is the normally attributed items like valuable content, targeted and well thought out information and of course regularity (frequency) where more interaction can yield trust.
However, when you really think about where trust is built, and what makes us trust other humans (brands too) is when we feel like we know them. Not just the superficial, but a little bit more about who they are and why they exist.
This is where getting a little more personal with your marketing becomes okay.
While I still recommend people keep some highly controversial views to themselves, there is nothing wrong with showing that you are an organization that believes in something, stands for something and dreams about many things.
Let those things be known and have them resonate through your content.
A Great Example of Brands Getting Personal
In their latest campaign American Family Insurance built the “Meet Russell Wilson” app where you can ask Russell Wilson, the star quarterback questions about his ideas, hopes and dreams.
Now what in the world does that have to do with Home Owners Insurance?
In all actuality, it has nothing to do with it. However American Family identified 2 things that are highly relevant.
- People love Football in America
- People are interested in getting to know their role models.
While Russell isn’t the company itself, the campaign is a reflection of a company interested in the hopes and dreams of their customers. At least that is how I see it.
Bottom line, is they are getting personal and talking about what matters to people, not what matters to them. A great way to drive relationships and build trust.
How does your company get personal with your audience to build relationships and trust
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Daniel Newman is the co-founder of V3*Broadsuite and is an experienced C-level executive, serving as a strategy consultant for small and mid-sized businesses. He’s also an insight/analyst partner to four Fortune 50 enterprises and previously served as the co-founder and CEO of EC3, a hosted IT and communications services provider. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of United Visual, Inc. in Chicago Illinois.
He is a widely published writer who contributes weekly to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post and industry publications such as Commercial Integrator, Sound & Communication and Corporate Tech Decisions. He’s also author of three best-selling business books including The New Rules of Customer Engagement, The Millennial CEO, and just recently Evolve: Marketing (^as we know it) is Doomed.
Daniel has established a reputation as a leading thinker in topics such as Social, Big Data, Cloud and Mobile. He has been named to many top influencer lists in all of these areas, including recognition by the Huffington Post as one of the 100 business and leadership accounts to follow on Twitter. He is also an adjunct professor of management at North Central College.