"Humans have been sharing resources and knowledge since they first banded together in prehistoric times, even before there was language."
- Shareology, page 5
"Giving value, sharing stories and information, being the go-to resource, helping people solve their problems--all of these human activities make us more attractive as brands to the people we want to employ and do business with."- Shareology, page 36
I always knew that a brand needs to add value, at times entertain, and avoid being too stiff with corporate speak. One thing that Shareology references several times is the rule of thirds. You need to have one third news, one third ideas, and one third curated content for good balance in your sharing. Moving forward, I’ll use the rule of thirds to further develop online branding, marketing, and sharing strategies. The rule of thirds will help to create variety in the ways that we look to add value.
Kramer also talks about letting people see “behind the curtain” to see the real people behind the brand. I’m really excited to roll out a social sharing strategy that highlights both clients and agents to make the brand more human.
"The main goal of active listening on social channels shouldn’t be to sell someone something, but to help someone get something done."- Shareology, page 73
It’s absolutely necessary for all companies to be online. I think that one of the most challenging parts of taking a company online, or improving a company’s online presence, is to make sure you aren’t selling all the time. I love, love, love the idea of taking selling out of the equation and focusing on helping. If we share this article, this video, this meme, etc., how does it help our audience?
The purpose of online channels, branding, signage… everything is to create more business. So it seems counterintuitive to hop online and NOT focus on driving sales. But isn’t your business helping customers fill some need? Aren’t you ultimately in business to help people!? By striving to help your audience learn more or do more, you will in fact build a loyal following with your product. And your company values will shine through.
"Understanding context means understanding all factors that influence an experience, which also includes how people talk about it (and with whom)."- Shareology, page 26
Kramer talks about social listening in terms of focus groups. Market research used to include gathering a relatively small number of people together to get their opinions on a product or service. Now, millions of people can talk about products and services all over the world and we have the ability to “listen” to what they have to say and then develop our online strategy accordingly, almost in real time. Even the simplest searches or social listening tools can give us so much insight into what others are saying about our brands or our industries. And then we can use that information to make our posts better suited to help out our own audiences.
To help us out with creating content in the right context, Kramer briefly goes over The Four Rules of Context from his previous book. (Number 2 is my greatest area of opportunity.) When you are creating content, remember to:
As much as I would like to include everything I took from Shareology, it just wasn’t possible. You’ll notice that I wasn’t able to touch on the importance of measuring your social strategy or how to focus on influencers. As far as I’m concerned, those will be part of the second phase of implementing a new social strategy with my new company. Now that I’ve outlined my new strategy, I’d love to hear about yours in the comments below. I hear that it’s human to share and that we should share to help each other. *wink*
Bryan Kramer is one of the world’s foremost leaders in the art and science of sharing, and has been credited with instigating the #H2H human business movement in marketing and social.