Way back when, before social media, Search engines and email ruled the day, we relied on employee referral programs to connect, network, share, like and such. I remember a print campaign concept I created for one client that gave me pause when I recalled it recently.
People Like You Like People Like You
Little did I realize then, that this kind of messaging would find its heyday 20 years later as a core message throughout social media. It appeals to our sense of self in a way that validates who we are because there are other people just like us who think we’re great; therefore, we are great!
Yes it plays to the ego in a big way, but look at the kind of energy it creates.
If you relate to a person or thing that evokes success, recognition, achievement or some other form of ‘more and better’, then you understand what I’m saying. It’s an ingenious marketing tool, social media marketing.
Everyone is looking for something, whether it’s a thing, information, another person, a new idea, a new job or whatever. Search has become as instinctual and universal as breathing. It’s how we find what we want or need.
Why is Search and SEO so important?
The Internet changed our lives irrevocably. It made life easier, more spontaneous, with accessibility to faster ways to get things done. Online marketing is now the preferred way to reach, connect and interact with customers and build brands. Search engines made that possible.
Search engines have become so smart and so discerning, that we rely on them to help us in our businesses, personal relationships, recruiting, entertaining, educating and the list goes on. And Search engines demand that we follow protocol and solid SEO rules if we want their help to achieve our end goals. In that way, Search engines have become both our mentors and our nemeses.
Perhaps the most gratifying thing that the Internet has given us is a way to connect and share what we know, what we like (or unlike), what we believe (or don’t) and roadmaps to where we have been and where we are going.
We live among generations of people who have always had computers, the Internet, digital marketing, instant access to friends and such. But for those of us who have watched technology unfurl and burgeon into a whole new way of life – whether we like it or not — it’s more valued in most cases.
We also understand all too well the difference in then and now. When we Search for something, we appreciate the fact that we are probably 100 times more likely to find what we’re looking for than we would have been 20 years ago. Answers at our fingertips. Access to everything. Wow.
We like it so much because it’s great fun and, yes — a privilege to share it!