Did you ever read the story, about the boy who cried wolf? The story goes that just for fun, a little shepherd boy would raise the alarm in his village by crying wolf. The villages would come running to the rescue, only to find out he was paying games with them. Then, one day, a wolf really did come and when he cried for help, no one bothered responding.
In marketing, particularly social media marketing, I see a lot of people crying wolf. I see people sending out messages on Twitter, with links to their site and the direct request to “PLEASE RT!” The first time I see this, I check their link out. Is it a link to a special announcement? Is it a very special offer they want you to retweet for them? Is it the launch of a new product or service? No. On almost every occasion, it’s just a link to a blog post they wrote.
Here’s the challenge with that approach: When those people REALLY DO HAVE something to announce or launch, they will get very little traction from their followers. By constantly asking/telling their followers to retweet their work, they devalue the request.
Conversely, when you very seldom ask your social network to help you share something, they respond extremely well. That’s where the magic is.
I while ago, I sent out a link to my followers and asked them to retweet it. It was a link to a site that had information on a missing child. Throughout that day, I saw people sharing that link all over the place. I started the Tweet with the words PLEASE RETWEET at the very beginning. People are not used to seeing anything from me that asks for a retweet, so it grabbed their attention. I have previously seen amazing results here on this blog, when I asked people to retweet a post, which asked readers what topics they wanted me to write about, so I could be of greater service to you and more relevant. The feedback was superb.
Build as much credibility and trust as you can with your social network. Be a source of value and help. Then, in my experience, if you need their assistance with something important, they will want to help you and in great numbers too.
Let’s work together and grow your business. To find out more click here!