I'm at a party with my records, and I haven't played a thing yet. I'm watching. Who's chatting, who's already moving, what's getting heads nodding by the speakers.
Any DJ will tell you the same. Read the room first. Parties taught me that years ago, and I wrote about it in Bedroom decks, 1987. Get it wrong and people don't complain. They just wander off.
Social media works exactly the same way.
Watch first
Picture a group of friends already deep in conversation. You wouldn't walk up and start a completely different conversation over the top of theirs. You'd listen, work out what they're talking about, and join in when you had something useful to add.
Do the same online. Before you post, pay attention to what's already going on.
Nobody joins to be sold to
Join someone's Facebook group and make your first post buy my stuff, and see how long it takes for you to get thrown out. Not long.
People use each platform for their own reasons. What someone wants from a YouTube video is different from what they want from a group they love. Respect why they're there.
The simplest rule I know is this. Don't do anything online you wouldn't do face to face. If you wouldn't barge into a conversation at a party, don't barge into one on social media either.
The people scrolling haven't changed
The platforms have changed a lot since I first wrote this. The feeds are noisier and the ads are smarter. The people scrolling them haven't changed one bit.
It's also why I keep saying good marketing earns you the conversation. You earn it by listening first.
First published January 2018.
