The story behind good social content

As it turns out, successful social content marketing has little to do with the technology you use. People seem to forget that when it comes to their marketing messages, the "how" is not nearly as important as the "what". In the end, it's all about the stories you tell.

The big brains at the Harvard Business Review (HBR) reduced expressed this in a single, simple concept: "The most successful storytellers often focus listeners' minds on a single important idea, and they take no longer than a 30-second Super Bowl spot to forge an emotional connection."

Case in point: Budweiser ads with dogs and Clydesdale horses have been selected as the best Super Bowl ads for the past three years based on audience response. But what's interesting is that those spots don't really focus on beer drinking. They do, however, connect with people's hearts.

Granted, this example is a television advertisement seen by tens of millions around the world, but the principle applies whenever, wherever, and however you connect with your customer market. And you have your choice of free social media platforms to make that connection -- blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, to name a few – but you need to be sure you're telling a story that resonates with your customers.

So ask yourself, does your business connect with customers' emotions? You don't have to be a Hemingway or even have a journalism degree in order to tell a good story. All you have to do is use your own words to tell personal anecdotes about your interactions and the relationships you have with your customers. Share how your services remove daily annoyances from customers' lives, leaving them free to tackle more demanding concerns or just enjoy life more. Furthermore, the story you tell doesn't have to be monumental in size to be meaningful, but it should relate a personal triumph for an individual in need and indicate how your business provided the perfect solution.

The HBR article ends with this observation: "Data can persuade people, but it does not inspire them to act." Let that serve as your cue to start spinning tales, even they are extremely brief. You could even fit it in a single tweet with room to spare: