Here is Why You Should Start Experimenting on Social Media

Almost every time when I’m starting a new project I’m thinking about it in tems of experiments. When I started to write my first blog on wordpress.com I called it an experiment, when I launched the first Romanian Instagram Blog I called it an experiment and now this, my first English blog is an experiment for me. Why? Because is really challenging to step out of my comfort zone and to think about another project that has another purpose with other tactics coming our from zero.

I’m not like Neil Patel who is proving to the digital communities that is posible to grow a blog to 100,000 monthly visitors and I’m not like Gary Vaynerchuk who is changing the game of his community to try other platform (from Twitter to Instagram) but I shurly can make it my own way today. How? By experimenting new trends, by trying out new tools and new social media networks.

And this is why I strongly believe everyone should start experimenting on social media.

Let me tell you why:

1. Because my social media strategy is not your social media strategy – perhaps my goals are to reach out more consumers and your goals are just to build a solid brand awarness. And if so, we don’t have the same social media strategy.

2. Because my brand is not your brand – even if we work in the same category of brands, my brand is not your brand. Maybe if we are colleagues in the same department, but this I would know because I would be drinking my coffee with you in the morning 🙂

3. Because my audience is not your audience –

Respect your clients in 2015 more that you did up until now. Respect them more than your competitors do! Respect your platforms. That means having to work more for each one of them. It means that every platform is designed for a specific type of client. And that brings me to the above idea again. Respect your clients. (The Only Thing You Need to Know for 2015)

YOU HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT ON YOUR OWN WAY.

This is why I created a presentation and uploaded it on Slideshare to show you that the first steps big brands are doing on social media are experimenting the platform. And sometimes they earned some media…if they are doing it well. You can learn from General Electric how they approached Vine with the #6secondscience, how IKEA built the first Instagram website or from Madonna how she launched her first videoclip on Snapchat. Exactly! Something new or something stupid? It doesn’t matter because they earned so much media and social media coverage that they will be “forced” to continue with something new, bigger and better.

But guest what? Who is behind all of this experiments? There are people who had the courage to make something new and to experiment other new platforms where their competitors were afraid to try.

And if you are willing to experiment on social media, here are my 5 tips and tricks that will help you jump in:

1. Experimenting on social media will help you understand the 3 C:

– Content – What is this?

– Context – How is this working?

– Community – Who is using this?

2. Start BIG and don’t be afraid:

When you are on top of the hill and you want to jump in the ocean you need to make big steps, run fast and simply fall into the water. This is why you need to start BIG when you want to experiment on social media. Don’t be afraid to make something big, useful and more than this…bigger and better than your competition. Think about this!

3. You should be there

Some brands are afraid to start something new because their competition is not there, so the platform is under question if is good or bad for their business. But let me put it in other words…if your competition is not there then you should be. If your competition has not started using Instagram than you should be on this platform because there is an audience for your brand too.

4. FMA

One of the biggest rule in marketing is the First Move Advantage. Which was the first big brand that was on Vine? General Electric. Which was the first automotive brand that sponsored a content on Medium? BMW. Which was the first brand that made a website on Instagram? Ikea. Which will be the first brand that is making its way on Snapchat? Which will be the first brand that every publisher will write about its experiment on a new social media platform? It can be you or your competitors. It’s your choice!

5. Measure

After all of this experimenting you should sit down and start measuring your results. Because marketing without the final measure is just an unfinished experiment. You need to know if it was worth it or not. Like one of the biggest NBA players said:

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed” – Michael Jordan

Look at this quote and think about the numbers. He measured his failures but he didn’t give up, he worked harder and harder to be the best on the field. An he succesed!

Now, do you want to start experiment on social media?