Lori asked a great question on yesterday's blog post. I started to respond to her in the comments and realized the answer may be one that other people are asking so I thought it would be more helpful as a post. Here's Lori's comment and question:
Bill,
I continue to think of this whenever I’m writing or speaking. A long time ago I learned another reminder catch phrase that is along the same line when I was in sales. It is the WIFM idea. That stands for “What’s In It For Me”. A customer or reader is always going to ask this question. And, it is more important to ask this question these days because we are getting so much information. There is no time for people to read all the content that comes throug. Heck, I don’t even listen to the majority of commercials that bombard me daily. I would rather TiVo everything I want to watch then go back later and fast forward through everything I don’t want to see because there is nothing in it for me.
I guess the next question that needs to be asked when writing to an audience is “how do I know what will EIEIO them”. Where do I need to touch to find the pulse of my audience?
Warmly, Lori
Who Are You Talking To?
When I talk about creating content for your audience I assume (perhaps wrongly) that people know both of the following things:
- Who they're trying to reach
- What will be valuable to those people
If someone doesn't know who they're trying to reach, they have some major issues beyond their social media efforts. Knowing who you need to reach is so foundational to every aspect of business you must nail that down very early on. If you don't know who your customer is you may think you're selling to everyone but in reality you're not really selling to anyone.
What Will They Pay Attention To?
Most people know who they're trying to reach and are asking the question that Lori did, which is "how do I know what they'll find valuable?" You can do two things here: ask and listen. If the people you want to reach congregate in any form, look for a way to ask them questions to learn more about them. Do a survey. Take a poll. Pose a question in a forum. Attend a conference. Interview some of the influential voices.
In order to listen you obviously need to pay attention to the questions you ask but you also can listen without asking questions by monitoring what people are saying. Here are some places to begin social media monitoring:
In all the above cases you can see what people are saying and identify more of the people you want to reach and get a better understanding on the things that interest them. You'll see what they like and dislike. You'll get a sense of the culture, the language, the leaders, and the followers.
So, to answer Lori's question, when you're not sure what adds value to the people you're trying to reach, just ask and listen. It's a simple answer but it can be a complex process to discover what you're looking for. Just know that when you do, you'll be better positioned to provide content they'll choose to pay attention to. That's the new world of marketing.