TIME OUT!

Social media is the place we go when we want to see what’s up, what’s new, and what’s next in the lives of our friends and family. It’s where we find out what Aunt Brenda ate for dinner last Tuesday. Instagram photos show you unique places with amazing people, many of whom you are proud to call friends – or at least close acquaintances. But when we go here, it’s to see what our people are up to, but lately? Lately, it’s a self-service atmosphere where businesses highlight what they want to sell you. When was the last time you read a social media post that wasn’t self-serving? That didn’t hint at some business or organization looking to hit you up for a donation?

Even businesses with social media pages forget who they serve – their customers.

What happened to the stories of those people who engaged with your business? What happened to the telling of how families were served best because they got help from your church? It’s not about the church. It’s about their story. It’s all about someone else.

It’s easy to forget about you. What if we focused the spotlight on you, highlighting your story? Telling about things that matter to you instead of your self-serving best interests? Would you turn your attention back to see what was going on? Would you be impacted or impressed hearing about the little girl who saved her money to help a family who needed diapers? Would you take the time to read about the retired woman who saved a few cans of beans every month to give them away to a local food bank? And then the food bank gave it to a man who, in turn, cooked them for another friend who lived under the Bill Emerson Memorial bridge? Would you read that?

Or would you prefer to read how positive energy in the world is the best thing since sliced bread because the animal shelter down the road says that positivity is why animals get rescued?

It’s so easy to get off track, to lose focus on the things that matter most, the stories that need to be told. Do you need to know how to save even more money on your car insurance?

Hey, businessperson – did you forget about me? In your branding, did you forget that your customers matter? That your bottom line isn’t our concern? It can be yours, but we consumers don’t care that you are saving the baby whales if we can’t buy food because your oil costs so much that we must take out a second mortgage to fill our gas tanks!

Please do us all a favor and remember that we, the people are consuming your content. We want to hear about how your product fixed someone else problems. What if the dairy industry told us how a family of four got healthier by drinking a gallon of milk every day instead of gimmicky images of brown cows dispensing chocolate milk?

Stop talking about the features and benefits of the latest kitchen gadget. Show us a family that uses it and saves time because of the product, but make sure it’s a real story. It is not a sitcom Full House family. We, your consumers, deserve more than platitudes and gimmicks.

Aren’t you tired of stories that don’t talk about real subjects you care about? Honestly, is your car’s warranty worth the emotional energy?

Tell us about the family living well because your company paid your lowest-ranked employee a living wage that helped them get out of debt and buy their first home. That’s something we want to hear about! And I bet everyone seeing and reading a story like that will buy your products and want to work for you! Picture that! More applications from qualified applicants because they value what you are bringing to the table.

When you start thinking about telling your story, hire someone who thrives in storytelling. Someone well versed in sussing out the most minor details, aiming the spotlight at those instead of delving straight into the deep recesses of self-service. If your 1967 GTO breaks down, do you take it to your brother-in-law, whose specialty is selling used cars, not repairing them? Or do you instead take it to a mechanic who knows all about classic cars, specifically the 400 cubic inch V8 with the four-speed manual transmission?

TIME IN!

Business owners start telling stories. That’s what your customers want.

Don’t forget about us!