Nick Bowditch delivering his talk at Terri Cooper Networking Breakfast at Moda Events Portside.
This morning I attended a Terri Cooper Networking Breakfast to hear Nick Bowditch speak. If you haven’t heard of Nick, he is the only person in Asia-Pacific to have worked at both Facebook AND Twitter. He is also the only person in the world to have worked in marketing at both brands.
I’ve heard him speak a few times and I always enjoy learning more from Nick. One of the main reasons is that he’s so relatable. He’s a down to earth Aussie guy who gives his speeches in his pluggers. That makes me smile just typing it.
I paid extra to be at his table and then didn’t have the nerve to introduce myself or say hello, other than to ask him to pass the water. Ridiculous. BUT, I assured myself, I was there to hear the master speak, and so I did.
The topic of the morning was “How To Create A Killer Social Media Strategy” and I was really keen to hear what he had to say, given that writing social media strategies is one of my service offerings. Very quickly, I realized that Nick wasn’t covering off the finite details of what actually goes into a marketing or social media strategy, but instead was talking at a higher level of how to stand out on social media.
The key points I took away from Nick’s talk this morning were:
Decide who you are
Who are you? What’s your message? How are you saying it? Figure out who you are, what your voice is and what your message is. Regularly check in with yourself – am I still connecting with my audience in the way I want to? Am I still sending the same message? Authenticity is the key
Be authentic
Be yourself and be genuine online. The way to build relationships and engagement online is just that. Be you and speak in your voice with your beliefs and your history. Authenticity is the key on social.
Be open
Tell people things about your business they’re interested in. Share news with your staff. Mark Zuckerberg holds weekly meetings where he relays company news to his staff and then allows them one hour to ask him anything they want. There are no barriers to what they can ask him. And he’ll answer them.
Be bold
Boldness wins on social. Have a bold vision and share it with your audience. People enjoy bold. They don’t enjoy arrogance, but if you can find that spot just between boldness and arrogance, they will love you for it.
Be evocative not provocative
Nobody wants you to pick a fight, but everybody wants you to pick a side. People want to know what you think about things and they use this information to decide whether they’ll buy from you or not.
Be fun
Running a small business is hard. We all know that. So we need to make sure we’re having fun! If you’re waking up every morning with a heavy feeling of dread because you can’t face running your own business anymore, then it’s time to wind it up and go and get a job.
Have a social contribution
What are you contributing to the community that helped build your business? By having a social contribution back into our community, we can make a difference.
Good storytelling
A great story can win Gen Y – they will buy purpose over profit everytime. Don’t just sell your product, give them a story, a history or a background to go with the product or service and they will love it.
Gamification
Gamification is the action of engaging game-based methods to things that aren’t games. It taps into the basic desires and needs of the users impulses, which revolve around the idea of Status and Achievement (definition credit). The most engaged gamers are 41-year-old females because they do one thing a lot of us don’t do – they wait. And what do they do while they wait? They’re gaming. Not convinced? Well what if I told you that loyalty cards, frequent flyer points and goal-tracking apps are all forms of gamification? You would start to realise that by using your MyFitness app, or the ten stamp coffee card or even your Qantas Club card – that you’ve been part of gamification all along!
Love story
This is not a love story between a man and a woman. It’s not even a love story between a man and a man. This is a love story between our phones and us. We are all on mobile and as marketers; we need to be aware of whether all of our marketing messages are being viewed properly on mobile. Websites need to be optimized for mobile viewing. We need to tell our story on the medium that everybody loves.
Secret Weapon
Nick Bowditch: The Secret Weapon To Winning The Internet
The secret to “winning the internet”, as Nick says – is kindness. Be kind with your dealings online. We are dealing human to human and if we can ensure that all of our messages and conversations online are done with kindness, then you win the Internet.
And that is the crux of Nick’s talk this morning. I know I certainly came away with a lot to think about and to pass on to my clients, and I hope that by sharing this with you that you will also have benefited from his talk. Have a wonderful week everybody and until next time stay engaged, be present and have fun!
Hardcastle Social Media is an independent social media consultancy based in Inner Brisbane. We provide strategic social media marketing to organisations of all sizes. Specialising in Facebook business page management we provide services from setting up your Facebook business page through to total management of your current page. Contact us today on 0401 505 423 or info@hardcastlesocialmedia.com.au. We offer expert social media advice and look forward to discussing your business needs.