WHAT COMPANIES CAN LEARN FROM SELFIES

Selfies are some of the most shared content nowadays. In fact, if something represents Social Media in its most pure essence, it is the Selfie. A portrait of one self made by ourselves is more than a picture. It is the vision captured by our own eye, not by somebody elses, made to be shared. Isn't that what Social Media is all about? Present ourselves the way we see us? The way we want to be seen?

Celebrities, politicians and the average Joe use them. They give a sense of closeness, of humanity... real people in a digitalized world. They tell a story of what we show as well as of what we hide. They are also the perfect metaphore of a mobile world. Most of them are taken by our camera equipped mobile devices. Even the device is sometimes present in the picture. And the gadget tells about us too. The model, the cover, the way we handle it, the way it has become an extension of our persona.

Companies have much to learn about the "selfie movement".

• First, because it can be used as a tool. A foundation to construct a profile of our potential customers. A means to understand who they are, what they like, how they see themselves, how they want to be seen, what their interests are. The pilar to filter big data and morph it into a real self. A market researcher's wet dream. If we want to triumph in Social, we must understand the value of the selfie.

• Second, because it is a way in which Companies too can present themselves to the world. A Company's selfie is a gesture of transparency. A vehicle to show its day to day life, the faces behind the brand. We are not longer our products, we are Social... we, as companies, are Human. Companies are organic selfs, they are alive, living entities, living organisms interacting with society.

• Third, because selfies are content, story tellers. In the world of Social, stories rule. Our message has to be shaped into a story to capture the eye of the stakeholders. If we want to build meaningful relationships with them, we have to target the hearts of our customers more than their minds. Project emotions, more than data. A selfie of our company does that better than anything else. It makes those relationships personal.

Think about it...

Link to an interesting article about some of the most celebrated selfies of 2013

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: LONG OR SHORT GAME?

Which One is Social Media?   BOTH 

A recent post by @jimdougherty titled "Why Social Media Marketing Isn't a Long Game" caught my attention briefly. It discussed a FORBES piece titled “The TruthAbout Social Media”, and ended asking: “Is Social Media Marketing a “long game” or are social goals more accessible than this?” Let me share my 5 cents on the matter.

In my opinion, the real question should read: Is Marketing (stripped off additional tags) a “long game”? If your answer to this question is yes, then you should treat SMM likewise.

Marketing has always been about a search to communicate ideas, a struggle for differentiation, a contest  to influence and resonate on people’s minds. Even when you use marketing to promote a short term objective, there is always a residual message embedded.

Social Media is a different channel to spread your message, a powerful one. One that tears apart the very fabrics of old fashion marketing practices for 2 main reasons:

1.-  It levels the plainfield empowering the consumer’s influence on his or her community.  The voice of an individual is not yet balanced with that of a company, but it is now at heights that enable it to speak up louder, and ears are listening.  Push and Pull strategies are losing ground to Participate and Embrace. The long run opportunities of this situation bewilder anyone’s imagination.

2.- It goes beyond the realms of other media because it is mainly about sharing. To Share to entertain, to gain recognition, to build a reputation or just for the heck of it. While with other media users engaged to mainly receive, anyone who engages in Social Media, joined either to share, receive what someone else is sharing... or both.   The power of Social media is the power of Sharing.

In conclusion, Social Media Marketing  requires a special understanding, different than traditional Media marketing, but, if you decide to include Social media as part of your Marketing efforts, then you should visualize it the same way you feel about Marketing as a whole. Whether it is a long run or a short one would depend on your perception about marketing itself.