High Rolling with Engaging Content
Social networking and media sites tend to get people’s juices flowing — a recent article published by Trevor Haynes evokes the extent to which we’re addicted to, what he calls, “short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops”:
“While it’s easy to dismiss this claim as hyperbole, platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram leverage the very same neural circuitry used by slot machines and cocaine”
Taking the above-mentioned allegory: if social media platforms are the slot machines, and posts are the cocaine, think of the prolific marketing opportunities. Marketing content is essentially rotated before the eyes of consumers, between each and every reel — that’s tremendous potential.
But, as anyone who’s ever step foot into a casino knows — nothing is more deflating that an interruption, then a disruption to the sacred flow of energy, an interlude of disproportionate proportions. And that’s exactly the kind of threat that a sub-par marketing effort holds.
Whether poorly timed or poorly designed, the wrong marketing maneuver can irritate, aggravate and exasperate a target consumer. That’s why it’s crucial to not only know and understand the audience, but to also present an advertisement in the most engaging, appealing, and enchanting way.
Content must stand out, be visually or descriptively striking, offer some measure of value, incite the hot flames of desire. It must make consumers imagine, want, crave, need — not just encounter, observe and consider.
The way to do this?
There are innumerable ways — striking and immersive visual merchandising, imaginative product description, emotionally-triggered product substantiation, to name a few.
Content matters and, astoundingly, in an increasingly noisy arena, it seems to almost matter more than the product itself. That’s why it’s imperative to direct effort into the front lines of consumer engagement — robust advertising campaigns that don’t miss the mark, that catch eyes and imaginations, along with product descriptions and substantiations that greet the consumer and permeate into their minds. A seed planted.
However, it’s not an easy thing to do. Every marketing effort — each social media post or ad taken out, any publicity move is never a sure-fire shot. There are just as many misses and flops, fails and missteps. And we only have so many coins before we either run out of funds or motivation.
So how do we maximize every roll of the dice or pull of the lever?
We get to know the game. We understand that the house always wins and that we ought to cater to it accordingly, that we’re there to play the game strategically rather than with blind luck. We can optimize every move we make, which saves us time, money and builds a more impressive reputation, all the while delivering an exceptional and naturally enjoyable consumer experience from the very beginning.
Like respect held for the casino and the high standards of engagement, respect must be allotted to the consumer - they're the be all and end all. If focus is simply to turn a dollar rather than engage in this symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, and bilateral respect, it's a two-way loss scenario.
Marketing isn’t just an odds game. While that can take us places, it will never lead farther than the hard work and understanding that can be invested into this relationship between consumer and provider. It's the foundation upon which intensive engagement is possible in the first place. There are so many intangible factors that can’t be achieved with shortcuts or mere financial investments.
In this way, engagement is a philosophy as much as it is a process, a make or break proposition that must be approached purely and respectfully with an assertive and resonating voice — lest we risk just making mindless noise in an increasingly noise-filled world.