Digital Media Engagement and Success
For me as a long time user of social networking sites digital media success and engagement is really simple and I believe it can be broken down into these six communication essentials, no matter what size business you are, there is no excuse for not using them.
The G.A.V.A.A. + C Digital Media Success Formula what it means:
- Show Gratitude for every Like, Plus, Share, Comment, Follow, Star… see this previous post on Gratitude for more information on why you MUST show gratitude.
- Acknowledge each and ever person by name when applicable, being acknowledged is a primal, survival mechanism that is hardwired into our brains and hearts from birth. When you acknowledge your followers they will follow you more, even to the ends of the earth, true leaders know this.
- Validate all points of view, even if they differ from yours (I am not talking about serial killers here). Remember that there are many philosophies and world views that come from a persons culture, background and life experiences and invalidating those is a great way to invalidate their experience and beliefs. Hint… use ‘and’ instead of ‘but’ in sentences that clarify your point of view, as this adds to the conversation rather than shutting it down by negating everything that went before your ‘but’.
- Show Authority, by developing your knowledge base around your niche and topics, be the ‘go-to’ person when everyone has a question about it, create and distribute content that proves your knowledge and experience and build up a cache of content that can be used as a reference when needed.
- Be genuinely, real and Authentic in all that you do and say. The word authentic is being used these days by some very in-authentic people as a marketing ploy, however when I use it I mean it. Be real, don’t pretend or try to be anything other than who you are, it will come across as a nagging incongruency if you aren’t authentic and this will tarnish your reputation and lose you any audience and therefore your market will go to the person who is authentic.
- + C equals CARE – really care! Gary Vaynerchuk talks about caring about your audience and the people who need what you have to give. Don’t think about selling to them, if you care about them, about making their lives easier and helping them sleep soundly without worry the rest will take care of itself. Your sales will increase as a result of your caring about them.
I’ll let you in on a little psychology about my formula: When we are born human babies are given just two survival skills, we are given the ability to cry and to coo, that’s it! Our whole survival depends on our ability to engage our parents via our cries for attention and coos of approval, this means you and I, AND your audience have one deep imperative hardwired into our cells… a desperate need for acknowledgement and attention!
Give this to everyone in your sphere of influence, in authentic and up-building ways, and you will have mastered the art of leadership, yes that’s all it takes. Simple isn’t it?
>>Our whole survival depends on our ability to engage our parents via our cries for attention and coos of approval…<<
Is that true? Our parents are primed to be engaged by their offspring and the relationship is more complex than just two auditory cues: crying and cooing.
Yes that’s true however we are programmed to use those cues for attention until we can survive on our own both are equally good for gaining that much needed attention bonds between parent and child are strengthened by each interaction – As I mentioned in the article, I am talking about the deep psychological survival mechanisms here not other bonds. A