Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
Dr. Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, would be 108 today and, despite his age, he would feel right at home on social media sites like Twitter because he wrote and illustrated The Cat In The Hat using only 225 words for new readers.
For those engaged in social media, the takeaway is clear—Make the most of every word and its context to convey your message.
In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, here are five quotes and their social media lessons.
- “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” Who at some point in their life has wondered why they’re not getting the attention and respect they desire. While this quote resonates with all children, it particularly true on social media platforms where it can be difficult to discern who’s who. Actionable Social Media Marketing Tip: Treat everyone on social media with respect because it’s the right thing to do. You don’t know who’s behind the avatar and how experienced they are with your language.
- “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” Social media provides everyone with the tools to create their own media platform whether it’s blog articles, photo collections, audio, video or presentations. What are you going to do to show you’re special? This doesn’t mean you have the right to act bossy and rude. Rather you have a responsibility to make the most of your talents to help others. Actionable Social Media Marketing Tip: To paraphrase Jermaine Dupri of Global14, learn where your power is on social media. This helps you play to your strengths while meeting your audience’s needs. How do you show that you’re special and your audience is special?
- “I meant what I said and I said what I meant.” The reality is that anyone who sees your social media communications will think you did mean to say what you said. Information has a way of streaming from your fingers without your thinking about it. So it’s important to give thought to your posts and comments because the Internet is forever. Actionable Social Media Marketing Tip: Take a moment before you hit the send button on any social media platform to ensure that your missive won’t hurt anyone or cause harm. Remember the Internet has a permanent memory.
- “You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.” Particularly on social media networks, it’s critical to monitor the conversation and participate where relevant. While you don’t have the ability to change or delete negative comments and postings, you can respond in real time and help change the public perception about you. As Eric Carvin said during Social Media Week, “Regardless of what’s said, there’s always a tweet out there that can get you fired!” Actionable Social Media Marketing Tip: Monitor the social media dialog to determine when it’s important to respond to naysayers. To this end, it’s useful to have a set of social media guidelines within your organization.
- “If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, just go right along and you’ll start happening too.” Dr. Seuss’ advice applies to social media interaction when social media goes bad. On social media platforms, multiple conversations occur in different directions at the same time. A marketer can’t (and shouldn’t) control them. Instead, it’s important to be present and engaged in case an issue flares up. Actionable Social Media Marketing Tip: To this end, have a crisis management plan ready to rollout. Go one step further and ensure that it’s kept up-to-date with mobile numbers of everyone who’s involved to make decisions and engage with the public.
Embrace your uniqueness and let others know what you’re about on social media platforms. While doing so, understand it’s important to pay-it-forward and help others.
What’s your favorite Dr. Seuss quote and what does it have to do with social media?
Happy birthday Dr. Seuss!
Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen
Here are some related articles you may find of interest.
- 50 Ways Marketers Can Celebrate Birthdays
- Social media isn’t about you!
- 21 Ways to Say Thank You Via Social Media
Photo credit:
- Dr. Seuss Lunch Box: http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodclothingshelter/486839405/
- Dr. Seuss Birthday Cake: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjoselibrary/2480332361/
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