A few months ago I wrote an article (Finding a Human Connection) about the amazing rise on social media of the blog (and Facebook page) called ‘Humans of New York (HONY)’. That article was about the marketing lessons we can learn from this enterprise.
Since that article, HONY has continued to increase its social media followers and has impacted them (and his photography subjects) in powerful ways. Over the past couple of weeks, the owner of HONY was able to raise over $1,000,000 (and counting!) for a school in one of the toughest districts of New York. This campaign was not intentional: it began with one photograph and interview with a student from the school, and it snowballed from there.
The reason it snowballed is largely because Brandon, the creator of HONY, is a great storyteller. Most often the caption he posts under the photo is simple and unembellished. But he has a way of being provocative in that the whole story is not always told. He leaves questions unanswered. This in turn makes the reader ask questions, either about the subject or of themselves. The result is that we feel connected to these ‘ordinary’ people because they are going about their ‘ordinary’ lives. But the photo and story create a sense that there is no ‘ordinary’.
So what does that mean for us in our businesses? How can we use this example to help people connect to what we have to offer?
The answer to this is not the same for everyone! And of course some of us are better storytellers than others. But time and again, marketing gurus will tell us that we need to find a way to tell our business story in order for potential customers to connect with us. But I think HONY has given us some clues: keep it simple and honest, and show the ‘humanness’ of your business.
Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender
