Too many businesses are asking ‘What can we get out of social media?’ instead of asking more the important question: ‘What can we contribute?’
When companies choose to follow their consumers down the path of social media, one of the first things they need to do is determine what they can contribute to the social media communities where they participate. Without determining their feel-good purpose for participating on social networks, brands are likely to fail. Success isn’t about creating ‘big splashes’ on social networks. It’s about providing continuous and relevant brand interactions.
In 2009, when American Family Insurance launch became active on Facebook, the odds were stacked against us. We were a conservative company, in a regulated industry, with a product perceived as ‘boring’ (insurance). When we defined our role on Facebook as ‘celebrating and protecting families’ instead of ‘selling insurance’ it enabled us to generate helpful content, conversations and engagement opportunities.
Guy Kawasaki, author of Enchantment, said that the ‘act of giving’ generates some of the highest dividends on social networks: Goodwill. Gratitude. The Golden Rule. In other words, the ‘norm of reciprocity’ — the social expectations embedded in our DNA that trigger us to act in kind. When people are good to us, we want them to succeed. If they’re not good to us, we’re indifferent at best. Openly hostile at worst. In his book, Kawasaki encourages the following principles applied to giving:
- Give with joy. Giving is never a bad investment. Don’t require anything in return. When you do, it’s not giving anymore. It’s bartering. The best results often come when you’re not expecting anything in return.
- Give early. Be proactively generous. If you have an opportunity to give first, take it. Give favors before you need to ask for them.
- Give often. Contributions don’t need to have a ‘start date’ and an ‘end date.’ It can be ongoing.
- Give generously. Generosity matters. Give enough to make a difference.
- Give unexpectedly. Sometimes the best giving opportunities are the ones that don’t make sense of the surface. Imagine the impact of being the largest contributor to a competitor’s charitable event.
- Ask for reciprocity. Goodwill relationships are strongest when contributions flow in two directions. Give generously to a charity. Ask them to provide you with photos. videos and stories of the impact of your donation so that you can communicate it to stakeholders, executives and customers. Encourage organizations you support to partner and support other organizations that you value.
“Invoking reciprocity is a powerful way to make enchantment last,” Kawasaki said. “You want enchantment to endure and, even better, to blossom. That’s what happens when you change hearts, minds, and actions.” In Enchantment, Kawasaki, the former chief evangelist at Apple and cofounder of Alltop.com, provides a wealth of tips to improve personal and business interactions and achieve enchantment — the voluntary, long-lasting support of those around you.
Credits: The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, is a tale about a relationship between a young boy and a tree in a forest. The tree always provides the boy with what he wants: branches on which to swing, shade in which to sit, apples to eat, branches with which to build a home.
About Troy Janisch