Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

And finally

Social Media is the number 1 online activity – beating out even porn and

• Assault the organism

Quite simply, don’t be bland. Make someone laugh. Make someone cry. Make someone angry. Sad. But please, don’t be don’t be boring.

• Nobody cares about your product

As you can imagine, this is a very scary thing for our clients to hear. But what people really want is a way to solve their problems. And they really like to be entertained. Seriously, the only person who believes the propaganda is your mother-in-law (and even she’s being polite).

Don’t panic, there is an upside to this – once you’re famous people will actively seek out information about your product.

• Don’t force it

You simply can’t, and cannot simply, generate community discussion because you like the sound of community. Give people something to talk about, or rally around, and they’ll create the discussion themselves. 

• Be counter-intuitive

In our world we call this disruption. More often than not, the best ideas go completely against the prevailing wisdom. So forget everything you learn in school; break the rules; dare to offend someone (there’s no such thing as bad publicity).

• Create something that requires long-term involvement

In order to engage online audiences, you have to think beyond the interface. Think about what would engage you and convince you to give up your time. And then offer ongoing rewards for your users.

• Don’t make people jump through hoops

If you absolutely need people to register for something, make it as simple as possible. You don’t need names, addresses, star-signs, shoe-sizes and the names of pets on your very first encounter with a consumer. Once you impress them with your obviously superior offering, they’ll gradually be prepared to part with more information about themsleves.

In conclusion, Social Media is about engagement. Not selling. Stow the corporate megaphone and be real. Open up and have a conversation. It’s people you’re dealing with, after all.

A version of this article appeared in the Malaysian Dutch Business Council magazine.