Put The Issue At The Center

Social media marketing is driven by the conversations people have with each other and with you (a brand). There are very few cases where people want to talk about a brand per se. People normally interact on an issue that is bothering them or is close to their heart. As a social media marketer, you got to understand the themes that the people are associating with your brand, with your products, and your industry and focus on that in your conversations.

For example, if you are a pharmaceutical company selling migraine drugs, you got to focus on the patients suffering from this chronic disease. As a pharmaceutical company, your focus while stirring the conversation on social media should be answering questions like how the patient can live a healthier life, what the patient should avoid eating or what kind of exercises they should do. The idea is to be the authority when it comes to migraine in the social world out there. Subtly branding these conversations or sponsoring the discussion with experts will provide you a couple of core advantages that you cannot enjoy otherwise. First, you will have a positive impression as a pharmaceutical company in the industry selling drugs to fight migraine. Next time when the patient is consulting about which drug to take with a pharmacist or a physician, given a choice they will pick your drug over some other. Second core advantage is the mine of information that you as a drug company will collect by being part of these conversations. By extracting insights from these conversations you can find the core issues surrounding the disease, you can understand the selection criteria for a patient to pick a drug, you can engage with experts and get their opinion on your drug and take action on this in-depth market research information which otherwise is not available.

Put issue at the center. The same is true in many other cases. If you are selling a hybrid car, talk about how to preserve the nature and have a smaller carbon footprint. If you are in the business of detergent, stir conversations on how to better take care of those party dresses in off-seasons. The idea is to talk about what people are interested in talking about. Social media is a great platform for you to come closer to the consumer, understand what their needs are and how you can meet them. Leverage it by being part of it and putting the consumers and their needs at the center.