What Your Dog Can Teach You About Social Media
I’m a dog person. I make no excuses for it. Now, I’m not going to say I hate cats…..but fine, ok, I hate cats. In fact, I think they are the work of the devil. There, I said it. Now, I’m just going to wait for the internet to descend on me like Sauron’s army.
But in the meantime, let me get back to my point. Dogs have a lot to offer us humans, but while watching my two dogs play with each other it occurred to me that dogs can surprisingly teach us a lot about social media practices. Think that’s a far-fetched (pun definitely intended) idea? Have a look at the below list of what dogs can teach us about a well thought out social media strategy.
Always show enthusiasm
I can walk outside to check the mail and both my dogs get so excited when I walk back in the house, you’d think I’d been gone for half a century. Why don’t our social platforms make our customers/clients feel welcome like that? Showing that you’re excited about your brand will translate to your followers.
I have someone in my social feed (no names) who has hired someone to handle their social media and it’s so boring, no life, no theater. How can you expect your followers to show any enthusiasm about your company when your company’s own social feed can’t muster up any enthusiasm?
Excessive noise is annoying
Okay, I admit it. When it comes to the quieter of the creatures, cats definitely win this round (but only this round, nothing else). While dogs’ enthusiasm is often charming and cute, excessive barking can be annoying, but also destructive. Your social feed works the same way. Don’t feel like you have to post multiple times a day or even every day. I’d rather have my clients post 1 quality post over the course of a week, than 7 or 8 so-so quality posts a week. People will get bored and tune you out (or worse, unfollow you).
Know Your Audience
Dogs can’t understand the human language (although mine are fully aware of what the word “food” means), but they can pick up on nonverbal cues. They know how to read their owners’ emotions down to a tee and understand when it’s a good time to ask for some cuddles or whether they need to give us some space.
You, as a small business owner, have to know how to read your audience just as well. Know when they are on social media, know when to post something funny, something sappy or sale information. Know what works and what doesn’t.
Next time you log in to your social platform of choice, pretend to be your dog at the keyboard - I promise you’ll get a better social reaction than if you pretended to be your cat.
If you want to reach out and yell at me about how you love cat videos or how your “cat acts like a dog” (no, it doesn’t and you should stop saying that) or maybe you just want to talk about social media - feel free to reach out to me at josh@amidonmarketing.com or give me a call at (315) 427-9213.
