Pop culture has a funny way of changing grammar and lexicon. For example, as the weekend approached I asked a buddy of mine what he had planned for Saturday and his response was something along the lines of “I’m thinking about doing some bath salts and then seeing what this zombie business is all about.” Clearly (hopefully) he was joking, but it got me thinking about how my news feeds are dominated with posts warning of the coming zombie apocalypse and so forth these days. I’m constantly fascinated by the way events like this seem to turn into jokes in real life, and once a continuous flow of jokes and information becomes available within the realms of social media, I’m all in.
Since this got the wheels turning, I started to realize how relevant this topic is to social media today. In short, don’t go get blasted on bath salts and then hit your Twitter feed, because no one likes the walking dead. It may be cool for a George A. Romero flick, but that’s where it should stop. Let me explain what I mean here. Modern film and folklore portrays zombies as the undead. They’re lifeless creatures void of coherent thoughts who wander from place to place to feed off the flesh of the living and cause nothing but terror and panic to the human race. Surely you don’t want to use this as a guideline for your social media marketing, do you? Let’s look at a few things we can do to avoid this.
Automation is dumb. I’m just going to come out and say it. Automated Tweets, posts and overall generic messages are just about the worst things you can do for your social media accounts. In short, posting the same message to all your social media channels at the same time leaves your brand void of personality. You’ve essentially become a zombie –just relying on over branding and not having a unique voice. The consumer doesn’t want this. They don’t want to wonder whether or not there’s a real person at the other end of the account. If they have a question, they want to know that someone on the other end of the computer is going to answer them, that there’s a personal touch to this whole social media business. When a company understands this, it results in a positive user experience. For example, Omni Hotels has a real live person monitoring their Twitter account, and they typically respond to Tweets within a day. That sort of personal touch makes me more likely to book a trip with one of their hotels over competitors.
Just because it exists doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good for your business. Zombies will constantly follow one another around moaning and hunting for brains. They’ll feast and then lifelessly wander to the next set of victims. Many people seem to monitor their social media accounts in a similar fashion. Just because there’s a new media outlet out doesn’t mean that this ‘hip new thing’ is ideal for your business plan. Test new technology, but make sure you know your audience. If it isn’t profitable, then focus on other channels. For example, Pinterest is a huge social media outlet. However, it might not be the best avenue to generate leads for your business. The five hours a week spent there could be spent on seo or communicating with your target audience. Therefore, don’t follow everyone else around doing something just because they’re doing it – that’s zombie-like behavior. Understand your target clientele and focus on where they are most likely to interact.
Creativity is essential. I cannot stress this enough. Monotone tweets and status updates are boring. It’s okay to find fun ways to get your message across. Yes, you want to make sure they’re somewhat relevant but outside of the box thinking is so much more than just posting a picture with a Facebook post. Give your speech an identity, crack a joke, Tweet a ridiculous hashtag, interact with others in ways that will make them think or bring a smile to their face – the list could go on and on. Lifeless muttering and oversaturation in your posts just makes it sound like you can’t think for yourself. You know who else doesn’t think for themselves? Zombies. As I’ve said before – don’t be a zombie. Nobody likes a zombie.
These are just a few of the things you can do to avoid sounding like a zombie in different social media networking avenues. Because believe me, when you’re doing things like automating your updates and you’ve got hashtags all over your Facebook status, you’re being laughed at. It’s zombie like, amateur behavior, and you’re so busted. Remember, the consumer wants to know that there’s a real person on the other end of the computer screen. Positive and personal interaction with your customer base will equate to meaningful interactions for all parties involved. Your business will thrive, and your social media accounts will take on a voice of their own. Also, stay away from bath salts. That’s just common sense.
