A Picture Of A Hamburger Isn’t Content!

What does a hamburger look like to you? It may look delicious. It may be colorful. But it’s not content. It certainly doesn’t tell a story. So why would you foist off a picture of a hamburger as content…over and over again? You can post one tomorrow, you can post one with cheese, you can post one without cheese, you can post one with bacon…but in the end it’s still a friggin hamburger.

We get it. You make hamburgers. You may even make great hamburgers. You may even make the best hamburgers ever. Your hamburgers may indeed be sooooo good that the Chick-fil-A cows are getting ready to make a march on Washington against your hamburgers. But it’s still a hamburger.

Ummm…wait a minute…the cows marching on Washington in protest…would actually be a story.

But no worries, you’re not getting that creative. You’re just posting pictures of hamburgers.

So you wonder why you don’t have any engagement. That’s easy. You’re boring!

Now before someone grabs the pitchforks and torches and rounds up the posse, you can insert any food based item in lieu of a hamburger. If you’re a pie company and all you do is post pictures of pies, or a car company that only posts pictures of cars, or camera company that only posts pictures of cameras…you’re dead in the water on social media.

People are looking for content. Real content. Content that they can share. Content that conveys value.  Your content should be educational, entertaining, inspirational, exclusive or informative. The hamburger picture is lazy, dull, and doesn’t give your audience any value whatsoever.

If your posting pictures of food day in and day out you’re simply mailing it in.  It’s the most neanderthal level of social media management. It’s also very short term in approach. Today’s consumer wants  to be appreciated. Heaven forbid you might actually include them in your content development strategy.

Keep in mind that because social media is a dialogue, you can ask your audience what they value at any point. You’ll get answers, and people will be grateful you cared enough to ask. But even if you get it wrong now and then–and you will, just as we all do–the beauty of social media is that followers are quite forgiving if you’ve built that relationship up first and you’ve earned it, especially when you can make up for a flat offering with one that’s well received–and especially when your audience knows you’re listening to them with a desire to deliver what they value most. – Amy Jo Martin

The self-serving, routine post of a hamburger isn’t showing any concern for your client, nor their consumer audience. Stop taking the easy way out and begin creating some content that you can actually activate around. Or don’t…and risk someone else showing your client the proverbial light!