Social Media: 5 Ways to Promote a Boring Brand
An insurance client recently contacted me to their rescue when they noticed most of their social media shares rarely get views and when they do, nobody wants to like, click or even talk about it. They have had this ongoing for too long and could only wonder what their offence was.
I giggled as they complained and said to them…”you offer a seemingly boring service.” Yes! In this part of the world, people don’t want to talk about insurance. If insurance is the gist, you can excuse them forever.
It’s not only about insurance, maybe your business or your industry.
If a mortician can find a way to be heard and loved on social media, what about you? You are not even killing anyone yet.
To tackle issues like this, let’s use these 5 strategies of promoting boring but essential brands and services.
1. Educate people about your industry, not your brand: Don’t talk about your product. No one cares about it. All they want to hear are benefits and who has benefited from the industry. People love free consultation, so play the fool and get them to yourself.
Teach them some things that seems obscure about the industry. You can get valuable topics from some enquiries people make via calls or emails to your office.
In the case of insurance, teach them how to get their claims in the industry and what insurance companies look out for before paying out. Soon, you will become an authourity in that industry.
2. Encourage them to ask you any question once a while: We’ve seen brand owners who encourage fans on social media to ask them any question – relevant or irrelevant, all questions deserve an answer. The only wrong question is the unasked one.
If any question sound stupid, listen with your right ear and they will all sound cool and it will enable you provide valuable and helpful replies. You could make this a monthly or quarterly project.
3. Share success stories about your industry: Share success stories of people who took some insurance policies and how that has taken care of some aspect of their lives.
People love to read about other people. So, telling them success stories about others, draw them closer to you. You can ask a question, “how do you feel when your phone screen breaks a month after purchase?” Add a captivating picture to it and encourage them to share with friends.
Days after, add the picture and story of someone who lost his phone screen 3 months after purchase, telling them he got another screen without paying a dime. Do these and watch their reactions.
4. Take fans behind the scene: Having tried some of the above points, give your fans a corner shot. Share pictures of your workplace on the social media. Show them the beautiful environment you operate from. Take lovely pictures of staff. For instance, share the group picture of the department or personnel who answers those questions ‘they throw at you from time to time’. This brings them closer to the brand.
Share photos of customers receiving their claims (with customer’s consent). Show off birthday pictures of staff. Share the MD’s birthday cakes and how loving he is. All these gives them a sense of belonging to the company. And if you are fortunate, some bloggers will pick the pictures and promote it more for you.
5. Take advantage of viral contents: Make use of some funny and cartoon pictures depicting what you offer. This could include animated photos to crack their ribs. Do this on all social media channel.
You may not be sure all these would work for you, but you can be sure some will do. Give it a try and watch your analytic months after.