Brand Marketing vs. Direct Marketing: Why Your Goal on Social Media Should Not be an Immediate Sale with Claire Diaz-Ortiz

Dec 19

Episode 391: Show Notes

Today our guest is Claire Diaz-Ortiz! Claire is an author, renowned speaker, and startup investor. She was an early employee at Twitter and has taken that essential expertise into her work as a consultant and authority on social media and online branding. Her books have been published in 12 countries and won many awards. She has been featured widely in both print and broadcast media. Today we are referring specifically to her latest book, Social Media Success for Every Brand and unpacking some of the lessons she has compiled in its pages.

When we say Claire is a social media genius we really mean it! In our conversation, we unpack the difference between direct marketing and brand marketing and why you should not be targeting an immediate sale on social media platforms. Claire breaks down a few common mistakes made by brands and big businesses on the various social sites we all use and shares some very easy and quick strategies you can start implementing today to get things going!

The Difference Between Brand and Direct Marketing

The main reason Claire wrote her latest book is because after leaving her position at Twitter and starting out as a consultant, she ran into the same scenario again and again. The situation usually included a brand or business wanting her to help get their social media presence and engagement up and generally build the online personality of the company. She would spend time on a marketing plan which was often ignored only to be asked if she could not get a huge influence to namedrop or cosign the company in order for them to go viral. According to Claire, and us, this is a terrible marketing strategy and she wants to nip this sort of thinking in the bud as soon as possible. The only times that Claire has seen viral marketing work for a brand is when the company in question has already been using social media for their brand marketing, this means having an engagement ladder in place. Brand marketing is about building community, engagement, and awareness, direct marketing is the actual sales pitch and social media is not a billboard to pin your sales pitch onto! There is a ladder and things to need to happen in a logical order. Claire lays out that getting a follow can be the first step, then some engagement, next this person might visit your website and sign up for your email list. This can continue all the way up to a purchase and recommendation but the first steps cannot be skipped!

Building Awareness, the Engagement Ladder and Digital Resilience

When starting out on social media you need to think about what your goals are and Claire likes to use the analogy of a cocktail party. Reasonable goals for a cocktail party are to get your favorite drink at the bar and make a connection with someone that you can follow up on at a later stage. How can you be a great cocktail party guest? If you pique someone's interest at a cocktail party or on Instagram, there is something to build on. No one wants to be rushed and yelled at on social media or in a social setting! Another mistake that Claire has seen, again and again, is lumping all the platforms together as something uniform. Each of the big four social sites is different and it is up to you to figure out and decided which suits you and your biz! Get a priority platform and make that your focus! Digital resilience is another great thing to keep in mind. Most of us have reached a social and digital media overload and so care must be taken. The reality is if you want to run a business in today's world, you need to have social media but the way you use it and market yourself is up to you. Time blocking and feed curation can go a long way and we can limit the amount we consume and create for our own good!

Creating Higher Quality Content and the SHARE Model

Claire's simple recipe for high-quality content creation is to prioritize what resonates with your audience. Shorter and easier forms of content might be more effective and there is nothing wrong with that! You want to be providing value to your followers 80% of the time and when you do this you can gauge what your people care about, what does well and what to do more of. This is the best way to becoming a leader in your space. Social Media Success for Every Brand is based around the idea of the SHARE model and SHARE is an acronym for Story, How, Audience, Reach, Excellence. It is a simple, five-step plan to succeed on social media today, so listen up! You need to know your brand story, have a simple one-liner and make sure this is more about your customer than you. The 'how' is the practical side of the platforms you use and the logistics of getting your content out there. From there you can consider the audience, Claire reminds us social media marketing is about your audience and not your brand! Think about as reach all about amplification and the amazing possibilities social media affords us in this regard, the sky is the limit! The last step, excellence is concerned with fine-tuning your content and strategies, remember, social media is a real-time network and presence is vital.

Introducing a Sales Pitch into Your Strategy

Included in Claire's book are the tools to help readers set up calendars and schedules that work for them. By opening the story loop, delivering value and then closing the loop with a relatively small amount of actual calls to action, you can take your audience through a full cycle and right up the engagement ladder. There is plenty of space to test things over time, trying out different kinds of content and balancing personal posts with more business-minded media. The right balance depends on you and the platform you are using. For instance, Instagram stories continue to grow, with some reports showing how people are watching less TV due to this rise. Random and fun selfies can work well as a sales strategy and sharing personal things can also work in your favor! The main message here is to go with what your audience responds to, let that be your guiding light!

Quote This

I see social media as a place to grow brand awareness, grow engagement and then move people up that engagement ladder.

—Claire Diaz-Ortiz

Highlights

The Difference Between Brand and Direct Marketing. [0:03:25.4]
Building Awareness, the Engagement Ladder and Digital Resilience. [0:09:42.6]
Creating Higher Quality Content and the SHARE Model. [0:21:22.1]
Introducing a Sales Pitch into Your Strategy. [0:32:23.8]

#TalkStrategyToMe [0:43:23.9]

Figure out your priority platform.
Existing followers should be your priority.
Give value 80% of the time!

ON TODAY’S SHOW

Claire Diaz-Ortiz

Website | Twitter

Instagram | Facebook

Claire Diaz-Ortiz is an author, speaker and startup investor who was an early employee at Twitter. Named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company and called 'The Woman Who Got the Pope on Twitter' by Wired, she holds an MBA and other degrees from Stanford and Oxford and has been featured widely in print and broadcast media. She is the award-winning author of nine books that have been published in more than a dozen countries.