In online marketing emotions are powerful. Fear can be a big obstacle
Posted by Matt Hayden on Friday, July 22, 2016
I'm accumulating more and more knowledge of how newbies perceive online marketing (especially using social media) by offering lessons to Sydneysiders. And I keep coming to the conclusion that the biggest blocks to success in this field are emotional.
Clearly, before they have any experience of this method of promotion, many people think that it is primarily a technical process. But while it obviously requires stunningly advanced technology, in the end it's still used by people. (This is particularly true when you're using Twitter, Facebook and the like, but it's also valid for online marketing in general. And as we all know, people are driven primarily by emotions.)
Needless to say, fear is one of the biggest, and most common of these. Fear of technology itself is huge, particularly among older people. That's why people I speak to about lessons often say they have poor computer skills. I ask them if they can use e-mail and usually they say yes, of course. I tell them that if they can do this they'll easily master the various processes required since they are mostly a variation on e-mail (i.e. you're putting text, images and other content into little boxes on screen and pressing save, publish, or post).
In my opinion the best way to overcome this common fear is to metaphorically bolt yourself to the chair in front of your PC, laptop or tablet and just sign up to a social network yourself. Then just start investigating the dashboard.
A lot of people want someone there to guide them through it, quite frankly I think this just slows the process down. Much better to muddle through it yourself -- not unlike learning to ride a bicycle. If you make progress on your own, without help, your confidence goes way up. You banish fear. Your mind is not clouded by fear and you can learn new stuff so much faster.
Other people may be stopped by other forms of fear. For example, I have spoken to some people who are curious about the lessons, and their attitude can be summed up as: "I don't want to talk to people. Surely the computer can help me avoid that, right? So, can you show me how to set up an automated system to generate leads?"
I understand this attitude. There are many reasons it's so prevalent. And I can see why many people in business would prefer it to be this way because of time constraints. But I try to tell them it's not like that at all. Which is clearly not what they want to hear!
So, there's a fear of having to change your view of something. There's also perhaps a little fear of social interaction -- although perhaps that is too strong a word. Maybe just a bit of reluctance.
Whatever its specific characteristics, this emotion is a huge obstacle, because it pins you in one place. You can't move forward!
So, how do you overcome it? I think you've just got to bite the bullet. You've got to start making connections with people online. Facebook and Twitter are by far the quickest and most enjoyable ways of doing this. So these are the best places to start to get into the world of online marketing, IMO.
Clearly, before they have any experience of this method of promotion, many people think that it is primarily a technical process. But while it obviously requires stunningly advanced technology, in the end it's still used by people. (This is particularly true when you're using Twitter, Facebook and the like, but it's also valid for online marketing in general. And as we all know, people are driven primarily by emotions.)
Needless to say, fear is one of the biggest, and most common of these. Fear of technology itself is huge, particularly among older people. That's why people I speak to about lessons often say they have poor computer skills. I ask them if they can use e-mail and usually they say yes, of course. I tell them that if they can do this they'll easily master the various processes required since they are mostly a variation on e-mail (i.e. you're putting text, images and other content into little boxes on screen and pressing save, publish, or post).
In my opinion the best way to overcome this common fear is to metaphorically bolt yourself to the chair in front of your PC, laptop or tablet and just sign up to a social network yourself. Then just start investigating the dashboard.
Other people may be stopped by other forms of fear. For example, I have spoken to some people who are curious about the lessons, and their attitude can be summed up as: "I don't want to talk to people. Surely the computer can help me avoid that, right? So, can you show me how to set up an automated system to generate leads?"
I understand this attitude. There are many reasons it's so prevalent. And I can see why many people in business would prefer it to be this way because of time constraints. But I try to tell them it's not like that at all. Which is clearly not what they want to hear!
So, there's a fear of having to change your view of something. There's also perhaps a little fear of social interaction -- although perhaps that is too strong a word. Maybe just a bit of reluctance.
Whatever its specific characteristics, this emotion is a huge obstacle, because it pins you in one place. You can't move forward!
So, how do you overcome it? I think you've just got to bite the bullet. You've got to start making connections with people online. Facebook and Twitter are by far the quickest and most enjoyable ways of doing this. So these are the best places to start to get into the world of online marketing, IMO.
