Whether you realise it or not, every business develops a Digital Personality. Some are extroverts while some are introverts. Businesses develop a personality by mirroring characteristics that resonate with their customers. The goal is to satisfy the customers’ needs and in the process develop a strong bond between the brand and its customers. These strong relationships may promote brand loyalty.
So, which of these sound more like your business?
Digital Introvert
Businesses that are watching and listening to their customers, and processing information in a way that makes them expert storytellers. They are able to captivate their audience with insight and thoughtfulness.
Digital Extrovert
Businesses that carry a ‘megaphone’. They are bold, assertive and outgoing in a way that makes them experts at grabbing attention. They are able to captivate their audience with fun and excitement.
But, which one is better?
It is easy to think that Digital Extroverts have a natural advantage over Digital Introverts when it comes to online marketing since there are many parallels to traditional marketing functions, from social networking to sales interactions, that involve forging quick relationships with new people.
Social media marketing being all the rage these days, Digital extroverts who tend to be more outgoing and enjoy those kinds of interactions that lead to success in customer acquisition in the Digital world.
Does that mean that Digital Introverts are likely to struggle more in the context of online marketing? Of course not.
#StrikeABalance
Customer personalities vary greatly, and many businesses serve customers that are a blend of both worlds. Avoid seeing introversion and extroversion as a black-and-white approach to personality traits that a business should mirror in order to engage them. Just because introverts are commonly associated with these characteristics doesn’t mean extroverts can’t possess them. In the same respect, introverts can most definitely adapt traits that are stereotypically considered extroverted.
Facebook & Instagram Advertising:
Digital Introverts’ dream come true
Online Marketing techniques focused on real-time, high-interaction methods – like viral videos and egg hunt games – can drain a Digital Introvert. Luckily, today you can take advantage of paid social advertising that requires much less real-time interaction.
Digital Extrovert? Skip to that section
Facebook Advertising
Running special deals or promotions to raise awareness about your business on Facebook brings introverted customers directly without exhausting them with unnecessary interaction. This type of campaign plays to a Digital Introvert’s strengths by allowing them to invest more of their productive time focused on making advertisements more relevant and less time worrying about entertaining the target audience in real-time.
Instagram Advertising
In a survey conducted by Content Marketing Institute, 66% of B2C marketers rate Facebook as their most effective social platform; followed by Twitter (50%) and Instagram (42%). But compared to Facebook and Twitter, brand engagement on Instagram is 10 times higher than Facebook and 84 times higher than Twitter.
Instagram is largely a creative platform. Therefore, if you are a business that has been listening to your customers, you can make an impact in the introverted community that follows you. Investing time to build creative branded content in their voice helps you build trust and develop an emotional connection with your audiences – adding to the personal touch without being pushy.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO):
Talk, Talk, but Write too – and Google will reward you
As a Digital extrovert, you love to talk because you have lots to say about the world around you. You have plenty of ideas too. Ideas that are always on point to what’s going on in the world. Ideas your extroverted readers want to consume.
Content is #1 on Google
According a report by Ascend2, 72% of marketers worldwide said relevant content creation was the most effective SEO tactic in a 2015 report.
Your extroverted audience is hanging out online – whether that’s Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Since you have so much to say, creating meaningful content that will tap into their issues, answer their questions and solve their problems is not an issue. Epic content – content that your readers will like, comment and share. That means if you create blog posts, PDFs, ebooks, white papers and infographics, what have you, that content signals quality due to its sheer engagement; and Google will reward you.
Unfortunately, if these contents are all over the place, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to drive traffic to your business’ website because these epic contents are nowhere to be found on organic search.
Are you actually a Digital Introvert? Go back
No switch off for SEO
The other great benefit of SEO is that any content you publish is up there pretty much forever. You are still able to attract new visitors and leads from them years after they are published. This in contrast to social media where if you post a Facebook status or send a tweet, people only get to see it for a short amount of time, possibly as little as an hour.
We are not suggesting that SEO is better than social media. There are plenty of benefits of using social media and Facebook is a proven source of massive traffic. However, one advantage that SEO has over it is that there is no off switch, which means it doesn’t dry up.
Flex your personality
It’s no secret that the business world skews towards extroversion. That’s not a bad thing, but as marketing continues to evolve, and step into the Digital age, we should pay close attention and adapt to make room for fresh perspectives. Playing to your individual strengths, and building complementary strategies in your Digital marketing plan will ensure you will be best prepared for all the exciting opportunities on the horizon.
Do you identify yourself with the Digital Extrovert or Introvert labels? Come down to our Discover your Digital Personality Seminar this August where PurpleClick will share our insights on how you can tap into your strengths.
