Social Media marketing is a delicate balance of well-conceived content, interaction with your intended audience, clear objectives and careful measurement, all of which ultimately produce leads and sales.
Yin-Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy where seemingly opposite or contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent on each other. These forces give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. The interaction between Yin and Yang establishes harmony and gives birth to things.
Those of you who know me know I’ve practiced yoga for many years. I see Yin-Yang philosophy as flow. Yin and Yang are complementary, not opposing, forces that interact to form a whole greater than either separate part; in effect, a dynamic system.
Mastering Social Media marketing depends very greatly on your ability to understand and capitalize on the power of these two forces in all that you do. Certain components lend themselves to one or the other but without each one working in tandem, your Social marketing will fail, one way or the other.
Yin is female in nature and yang is male in nature. They fit together as two parts of a whole. The male principle is equated with the sun: active, bright, and shining. Linear, logical, even technological. The female principle corresponds to the moon: passive, shaded, and reflective. Intuitive, devoted and infinite. Male “toughness” is balanced by female gentleness; male action and initiative is balanced by female endurance and need for completion.
Yin-yang is everything we see, touch, hear, smell and feel – unstable and ever-changing. The recession has caused us all to sit up and take notice of what’s right and not-so-right in our lives. There’s a lot of movement happening right now and Social Media was born of that movement.
Yin:
- Relationship building
- Sharing and engaging
- Content-driven sales
- Non-Linear (one whose output is not directly proportional to its input)
Yang:
- Technology
- Tools
- Metrics or number-driven sales
- Linear (“If you do this, then you get that.”)
Sales has always been a practice in Yin-Yang. Keeping a good balance of it produces the best results. Too much of one or the other produces failure.
Nothing in the universe is totally Yin or totally Yang. Yin contains seeds of Yang and vice versa. Too much of one can weaken and consume the other. Your Social marketing energy should be spent on making sure you have a nice balance of Yin-Yang. Here are 4 examples of a Yin-Yang imbalance in your Social Media marketing and what you can do about it:
1. Broadcasting. Shouting messages about your products/services represents too much male principle. Add a strategy of engagement and concentrate on building relationships with your content. Evoking emotions is the key to successful marketing. Practice active listening and foster mutual understanding.
2. No Content Strategy. Posting uninteresting or non-strategic content with no focus on your brand is too much female principle. Add conscious creativity – design and execute a content strategy that increases engagement, leads and sales.
3. Tools, Technology and Algorithms. Believe it or not, there are those who spend hours in tiny rooms focusing on these three components of Social Media marketing and believe they are marketing. Of course, these elements are crucial to any marketing endeavor but where’s the human-ness? Every sale begins with a conversation. If you’re not participating in conversations, you’re not selling.
4. No ROI. Social Media is more than just posting Facebook updates, tweets and blog posts. You must have clear objectives and take time to measure your results. When you can tie your results back to your objectives, you have return on investment. Content with no direction = too much female. Spending the bulk of your time on tools and technology = too much male.
In work, life and Social Media, imbalance causes dis-ease. Your body tells you when you’re out of balance by signaling pain or discomfort. Your customers tell you your marketing is out of balance by choosing your competitor. Spend time getting right with Yin-Yang. It’s a proven system that’s thousands of years old. Everything old is new again.
- The Ultimate Secret to Success in Social Selling - November 26, 2013
- How to Capture the Power of Facebook Ads and Why You Need It Now! - July 25, 2013
- The Best Social Media Strategy: Have You Got What It Takes? - July 8, 2013
