A Social Media Marketing Story This Social Media Marketing Story is about bubbles. Right; there’s no misspelled word here. Bubbles are our tiny comfortable worlds that harbor us and won’t let anyone who thinks differently from us enter. This bubble is like our Facebook feed and it swiftly becomes our idea of reality. But this idea shatters when you scroll down your mother’s Facebook feed or your uncle’s or… your neighbor’s maybe. Maybe we should organize an auction, with people auctioning their Facebook feed to each other for a brief period to realize the gap. The Gap that makes the difference in content creation Content creation is the first stepping stone to Social Media done right. If in school you had a teacher for almost every subject taught, in Social Media content creation you should have a “professor” for every category of public, product, client, etc. Yes, it might sound funny at least, or idiotic at most. Nevertheless, the content must be smart, neat and empathize with the public. “Yes, I know; my public is between 20-40 years old, mostly highly educated, mostly women, they like to socialize with one another and they have mixed political ideas”, you might say. Well, this does not tell you anything about the type of content you need to deliver to these people. This is the gap, the gap between these people’s bubbles and your own. You can only cross this gap if you choose empathy. What is empathy Empathy is walking in someone else’s shoes and experiencing the world from within their frame of reference. This means you it’s not enough to think you know what your public thinks, it’s important to feel what they feel. It’s important to ask questions such as:

• What do my customers like to do in their free time?
• What types of jokes does my public enjoy?
• What kind of humor does my public like?
• What makes my public happy?
• What makes my public sad?
• What makes them cry?
• How does my public relate to my brand?
• What are the perks of my brand/products that only my customers know (and I, content creator don’t)?

Content Research? Ain’t nobody got time for that Well, you can start small from the low levels of Community Management. You should get your hands “dirty” and browse through the comments and messages and reviews you get from your public, see what they like and what they don’t, know how they use your products/services. Maybe there are some little urban legends about your brand and you have no idea about it. For example, if you’re a fast food-chain, maybe it will be good to know that your fans like to eat, say, a crazy combination of French fries with ice cream. You can use this knowledge to create engaging content that will also prove to them that you are part of them, you are there, in the middle with them, know all their thoughts and funny jokes and are willing to be part of their bubble. Next steps: Empathy map If you’ve experienced with community management research and you’ve seen it works, get more in-depth and try to create an empathy map of your public. Define:

• What they like to see
• What they like to hear
• What they think
• What they feel/ mood
• What they say
• What they do

It’s true, you cannot get up close and personal on behalf of all the brands out there, but if that’s your brand promise and that’s what you need to do, then don’t be afraid to get down in the middle of your public, listen to them, feel what they feel and then write content for them, not for awards, recognition or a specific someone.