Mar 05, 2014

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Why You Should 'Feel' Before Being Social Great products, great service help of course! But is that enough in the social era? Maybe..but not always. If you can combine this with a great brand voice, a brand voice that sings your values on the social stage then you can win NOT only the product war but also the war for customer attention. When you think of a voice it has different elements. It has a tone. It has an accent. It has emotion. When you think of a brand, too often business leaders think message, tools and what they want to say..... But when a human voice resonates it expresses the right tone, the right emotion and the right note for the audience. Imagine if you thought of your brand messaging as a human voice rather than a communication tool. Imagine if you used social marketing not as a tool but as a demonstration of that human voice. Imagine if you thought human rather than professional. Imagine if you thought more about how the listener feels rather than what we want to say..... Greatness in people is often described by their speeches; From Lincoln to Churchill, from the Dalai Lama to Pope Frances to Nelson Mandela......they speak to create change, they speak to the heart not the tool. They speak with the right voice with the right emotion at the right time. Social is not about communication, social is about emotion to create motion. (Tweet this) When you have a great product or service and add the power of the voice, you don't just connect you engage.....(Tweet this) This needs planned action. You need to understand who you are, what 'motion' you want to create and how to connect with someone's heart to create that motion. Now all that makes sense. Nothing new. So why blog about it? Because too often we forget....and create communication rather than feel what needs to be communicated.
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10 Ideas For Creating Compelling Content Ever felt stuck knowing what to write, what to say? Ever felt the pressure to create and yet could not think of anything new to say? We have all been there, don't worry! I wanted to share a great tip that I picked up from Billy Bragg of all people on the art of writing. He was asked to write a piece of music for a BBC radio program which was covering the story of the Titanic.All he could think about was how the Titantic is so closely linked with Celine Dion and My Heart Will Go On. He was stuck. He didn't know how to make the story interesting, compelling....how on earth was he going to create something 'new'. He then realised that no one had told the story from the perspective of the iceberg! Once he thought about how that iceberg was created, how it had been formed from free flowing water which had travelled thousands of miles....only to create one of the most tragic stories ever...the creative juices started to flow. This is a great example of what I call the Social Diamond perspective. Our world, our markets, our customers, our brand....none of them are flat one dimensional subjects. Think of your topic as a diamond with many different perpectives...and remember it is the multi dimensional nature of a diamond that makes it sparkle.... So when you are creating content for the web, think about Think about the problems you can solve. Think about the opportunities you can offer. Think about the issues in relation to your market - maybe causes, reforms required, public policy. Think about the questions you get asked. Think about the different angles from a consumer and a customer perspective i.e. the person who buys a present is not the person who uses the gift. Think about how non users view your market. Think about your brand from the competition's angle. Think about the history and story of your brand and how you can share them Think about how the full life cycle of the product/service - well, after the transaction has taken place. Think about the supply chain and the stories to be told. What is your iceberg? What are the different perspectives that will give a diamond-like sparkle to your brand? (Tweet this) Step away from the desk and see your brand from through the eyes of others. (Tweet this) Here is a little Bob-o-graphic to remind you....

Anna Farmery

Social Marketing Architect, Speaker, Author and in spare time completing PhD on the future of the social business model

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