Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Technology with Emotion

My dance teacher’s email signature said ‘dance is motion with emotion.’ How true! If that’s the case, then social media is ‘technology with emotion.’ Think of the most common terms we use in this field: engagement, sharing, passing along, experience and communication, among others. Outside the marketing context, none of these suggest coupons, samples, downloads or payments. The experiences we are trying to create through social media are successful when people are inspired, entertained and touched.

Let’s say you are trying to create a Facebook page for a brand. There are many elements you need to pull together from design to development. The order of applets (e.g., polls, quizzes, games) you use is not as important as the journey through which you are taking your audience. If your campaign invokes emotion, then it will be successful. That’s when people will have stories to share. That’s when people will have the inertia to take action.

Consider food bloggers or those who write about travel. They talk about creating experiences that appeal to the senses. That’s why they’re intriguing. That’s why there are millions of people who write about these topics and millions more who follow them.

So, before launching another page or posting another announcement in social media, run it through the emotion test. Share it with some people and see how they react. If they talk about how it makes them feel, then you have a good story in hand. If they are worried about where to click and unsure of what they will get out of that click, then go back to choreograph your dance and to create.

 

Posted via email from dotwom's posterous

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