Now, hold on just one second. You may be reading this line and thinking to yourself, “What do I care about the essential values of digital marketing?”

I get that, I really do.

However, if you have ever posted anything on social media, then you have participated in digital marketing. One way or another.

The question is: do you care to do it better?

Your personal social media, for example, can be a simple profile where you shout into the void and do whatever you want.

But…

When you meet someone or hear about someone, etc., etc. what is one of the first things you do to get to know them more?

You look them up, don’t you?

And what is it you find?

Their social media accounts, for one thing, right?

Exactly.

Everything you post online, whether you are an individual, a company, or a personal brand is a part of your digital marketing strategy (or lack thereof).

So, when you approach creating any kind of digital content – from blog posts to social media posts – I recommend paying attention to these three essential values of digital marketing.

They are going to pay off in the long run more than you can even imagine.

Why Should I Care About These Values of Digital Marketing?

I am talking about:

• Being Human
• Being Helpful
• Being Kind

If you make sure every piece of digital content is filtered through these three values, then you are going to succeed.

You are going to succeed because people are people and want to be treated like people, because everyone is seeking help – even when they may not realize it, and because every person wants to be treated with respect and kindness – even if they maybe don’t deserve it (let’s be honest)!

At the end of the day (and at the end of this article), I hope you will know and understand the value you can give and receive by being human, helpful, and kind.

Be Human

This might be the most difficult of these three essential values of digital marketing to grasp.

Not because it is a difficult concept but because it is abstract and requires a lot of intentionality to accomplish.

What does it mean to be human? Well, that’s essentially what this is tackling. 

Let’s work with two hypotheticals: personal and professional.

Be a Personal Human

If you are posting on, say, Instagram pretty regularly. Just for fun. And none of your posts have anything to do with you personally or your face or voice, then when someone stumbles across your social media account they aren’t going to know anything of substance about you.

If you were to apply for a job and that company has someone do a search for your social media channels would they even know it was you?

To take this idea a step further, how are you interacting with other accounts? 

If you are commenting on other posts and are only dropping emojis or nonsense words, then what is that communicating to everyone else?

Obviously, you don’t want to go to the exact opposite extreme and only ever post very personal information and deep, introspective thoughts in comment sections…

…But at the same time, well, are you acting like your true self? And are you treating others like they are a person, too?

Being Human is all about being authentic – not just in front of others but to others.

Ignore the screen and treat every person, every account like there is a human on the other end (even if there isn’t, ya never know these days).

Be a Professional Human

If your business is sending out email blasts, creating blog content, video content, social media posts, etc. but you aren’t taking any time to show that there are real life humans creating and posting and commenting on everything, then people can feel alienated.

Companies can sometimes feel very “other” than individuals. 

When someone is reaching out to your business – whether they are seeing an email, an advertisement, or social post are they getting in touch with an actual human being or has the process been automated?

Each time someone interacts with a “business” or “company” there is a wall that immediately comes up because people aren’t sure who or what they are dealing with.

Going that extra mile to showcase your staff, be personable here and there, or even share personal stories can go a long way to helping people feel more human and feel that they are working with humans.

It’s worth the effort. Every time.

Be Helpful

This one is much more straightforward.

If your content isn’t, in some way, helpful, then it probably isn’t worth sharing.

And “helpful” can be pretty broad. Sharing an achievement or accomplishment could be seen as helpful to someone if they find it inspirational. You could share something about a great experience you had because someone else might find it helpful if they are thinking of doing a similar or the same experience.

To be helpful is the easiest of these essential values of digital marketing because all it requires is being intentional.

For your personal digital content or your professional digital content, it will always pay off to help others freely.

Be Kind

Here is where the rubber meets the road.

We have all met them: trolls.

The best advice anyone can give when you are online is “don’t feed the trolls.”

However, I think you can take things one more step towards the extreme: put yourself in the shoes of the people you are interacting with.

Every interaction you have online should leave people with the distinct feeling that they were respected, listened to, and heard.

You CANNOT solve everyone’s problems.

You CAN make sure you did your best to be kind.

As you treat people like they are humans and try to help in some way, then it becomes much, much easier to be kind.

Business or otherwise, there are worse things in life than being known as one of the nicest and kindest people or companies someone interacts with that particular day.

More often than not, people will be surprised and impressed at how you handle yourself and how you treat others.

So, when the trolls are out to complain and eat you alive, remember that there is probably a reason they feel the need to be nasty online – so don’t judge them too harshly and don’t react negatively.

In the words of Selena Gomez, “kill ‘em with kindness.”

Making These Values Work For You

Here is the best part about following these three essential values of digital marketing: they start to work for you instead of you working on them, and it happens quickly.

When you go out of your way to treat others with kindness, constantly help and offer advice and support, and act like a real person who treats others like real people, then people will notice you. If you have a business, they will want to buy from you instead of XYZ Business. If you don’t have a business, then people might begin to notice the character you have and want to know you and work with you more.

You don’t have to have an alternative goal of trying to earn more business or make “big moves” in your personal life with these essential values – they are rewards in and of themselves that just also happen to help bring good things your way.

How are you planning on putting these into practice? Shoot me an email and let me know.

Also, if you like working with a helpful, kind, human with your content and copywriting, then look no further. I’m happy to give it my best shot for you and, at worst, give as much advice as I can along the way.