See-Think-Do: Engage Your Customer at Every Stage with Social Media

What if you could find a marketing medium that would allow you to engage your ideal customer and satisfy their information needs across each stage of the buying process? If that sounds like something beneficial to you, then Social Media just became the most valuable marketplace for your business.

Avinash Kaushik, Google’s Digital Marketing Evangelist, recently wrote about a straightforward framework strategy to put your customers first, evaluate your marketing programs, and right-align your view of success (metrics). It’s aptly named See – Think – Do.

See – Think – Do was born out of a deep desire to create a new, simpler lens through which dealers can look at all their business activities and shift all you do as a company to deliver higher profits.

I believe Avinash is onto something revolutionary. Soon after I read his post, I tuned into Mitch Joel’s podcast and there was Mitch interviewing Avinash about the working pieces of See – Think – Do. As a content strategy coach, it had a profound affect on how I think about Social Media customer engagement.

As he always does so eloquently, Avinash boils things down to a simple and highly perceptive commentary. If you saw him speak at Digital Dealer, you know he has no qualms about calling out some of the industry’s largest web marketing providers. Dealers can now ignore all the fluff because See – Think – Do strategy is groundbreaking.  If you’re not incorporating See – Think – Do strategy with everything you do on the web, then, as Avinash would say, your tactics are “Dumbass”.

Defining Each Audience in See – Think – Do Framework

 See – Think – Do Strategy in Action

“Step one towards having an exceptional See – Think – Do marketing strategy is to take a long hard look at what you are doing today. It starts with a question.”

When you create social marketing content and campaigns, who are you solving for?

Is it for the audience in the See stage? Is it for the audience in the Think stage? Or, is it for the audience in the Do stage?

The foundation of your social marketing success is to ensure you publish attractive, relevant content for audiences to engage with in each of the 3 stages. Before you pull the trigger on anything, however, you must have your strategy nailed down. Spending time, effort and budget without a clear plan ensures only certain failure.

Let’s apply See – Think – Do to your Facebook marketing strategy. I’ve outlined a workable content strategy for each buying stage:

“See” audience: You’re in competition with users’ friends and family in their news feed so what you share needs to be compelling. Not everyone can be awesome but everyone CAN be useful. Define the content that attracts and engages in people’s news feed. Memes, local/community related, sports, current events, humor, thought-provoking questions. If you happen to have a dealership blog, it’s a perfect medium to produce “See” content. Blog posts can entertain and educate. Sharing your self-published content on your social media platforms is a great way to market your expertise. If someone has read 30+ pages of your content there’s an 80% better chance at closing the sale.

“Think” audience: Develop content that’s highly sharable. In sharing with their network, your prospect is clearly thinking about their purchase, whether it’s a vehicle or a repair. Facebook content that centers on your employees and customers can get a lot of shares. Provide ways for prospects to think/visualize what it’s like to do business with you. Facebook ads can do a great job of reaching those that are thinking about a purchase. Incorporate “Page Like” and “Sponsored Stories” ads to create more visibility and social proof.

“Do” audience: This is where you can really leverage Facebook Ads. Drive prospects using landing pages. Offer something for liking the page. Create a well-defined marketing campaign that sends people who are ready to “Do” to a place that compels them to take that action. There are a million different ways to do this and if your social media manager isn’t sure, seek out expert advice.

The See – Think – Do framework is valuable for all marketing platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, YouTube, SEO, PPC and even old school mediums like TV and radio. The See – Think – Do Framework can be a catalyst for some fruitful strategizing inside your dealership. It certainly does hold a promise for unlocking new ideas and actions.