Do you really need a digital marketing specialist, or just someone who really understands what you have to offer and how to use emotion to sell it on social media?
Dear @soloucity/Tony X,
I don’t know you. In fact, I am willing to bet that most of your nearly 70,000 Twitter followers don’t know you either. But I know this.
You, sir, are an absolute Twitter genius. You just might be the best Digital Marketing Strategist I have ever come across. Ever. There’s a career out there for you, maybe even in our field of electrical distribution, and you need to take advantage of it.
I saw your story making the rounds. USA Today, and just about every other newspaper and television station in the country, picked it up.
Just out of curiosity, how much did you pay for all of that national attention? Nothing? So your return on investment is astounding. Perhaps you know what you are doing with this social media beast. And maybe you even understand its power enough to harness it and make it work for you. Imagine what you could do for a major corporation. Three words: Digital. Marketing. Strategist.
So you were looking to watch the St. Louis Cardinals on television, and up pops a playoff hockey game instead. While most people would have said this plan isn’t going to work and walk away, you stuck around to watch. And not just that, you decided to live-tweet the game. Even though you have never watched a hockey game before in your life. And that’s your first great move. A lot of younger people that we work with, we call them millennials, are boxed into a category that basically says when conditions aren’t right for them, they go find work somewhere else. You proved that wrong. Not only that, but you stepped into a situation you didn’t anticipate or want, and you owned it. Just took it over. Very well done, sir.
Next, you embraced your audience. At 140 characters per tweet, you found their emotions (very high, since this was game 7 of a playoff series) and you engaged them with your own brand and personality. A lot of people think that’s easy, because you were talking about a highly emotional sporting event. In electrical distribution, we talk about all things electric. Not very emotional? Remember that the next time the power is out at your house, because the people in our trade association made the light switch, box, cables, connectors, lamps, light bulbs, switch gear and power lines that make turning on that light possible. When you flip the switch and the light doesn’t go on, you get emotional. When you go to a hospital or school and you can’t get in because the power isn’t working, you get emotional. When you get your electric bill and you find that you saved hundreds of dollars a year because you are now using energy efficient products that we make and supply, you get emotional. We work with essential, even vital products. You can see that. You can put that in 140 characters or in an Instagram video or a Facebook posting so your followers know what you are saying is important. I like that you found the key factors to touch on before every Tweet. You know what is important. I’m telling you: Digital Marketing Strategist. Look into it.
And I know, we talk business. You talk to people. But you realize businesses are people. If you aren’t using social media to talk with the people at those businesses, whom are you talking to? Sure, you tweeted about the St. Louis Blues hockey team. A thing. Now, the people who run the Blues want you to come to the next home game. And the players on the Blues, who also happen to be people, are also tweeting with you. You get it. B2B tweeting is really B2Another person tweeting. Congratulations on that, too.
While you are at it, you should teach us all how to live-tweet. At trade shows, counter days, education sessions, and major events, there are hundreds of businesses that can benefit from some live-tweeting. It’s not about “see something, post something.” It’s about seeing what is so great about the event, and making sure everyone who is not there realizes they are really missing something special. That will make them want to come next time. And it will make them loyal social media followers because they got to learn something without making any effort.
Don’t worry about experience. You have experience. You use Twitter like a real person. And like a real professional. All of those people with years of experience in social media marketing would love to know what you did to increase your number of followers from 1,500 to more than 70,000 in a week.
You just got lucky?
I doubt it.
You just got it.
So keep it. Grow it. Live it. And some smart company is going to come along and ask you how they can get 70,000 followers. And you will have the answers.
Because you, sir, are an absolute Twitter genius.
Sincerely,
Scott Costa
Publisher
tED magazine/tedmag.com