What the Jerry Springer Show taught me about social media
Happy holidays folks!
To my readers with me up here in (snowy) Canada, happy Family Day, and happy Presidents' Day to my friends down in the US.
It's been so snowy up here in Toronto that we couldn't do much all weekend, although we did watch a pretty interesting documentary.
I love documentaries. I tend to prefer non-fiction, and I find there's a lot more to learn from real-life stories, even if they're not specifically about business. I'm not against the odd movie here and there, but I prefer documentaries in general.
The one we watched this weekend was about the Jerry Springer Show, but stick with me for a minute here (it's on Netflix called "Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action"). I'm not saying I loved the show or that it was good for humanity, but it certainly made for an interesting documentary that also had some good business lessons.
For those who don't know, it started as a talk show but became popular when a new producer, Richard Dominick, took over and, quite simply, made it crazy. By "crazy" I mean that they would bring on regular people in extreme situations, like nudists, prostitutes, racists, people in love triangles, and a man who married a horse (yes, you read that right).
So yeah, crazy.
But the crazier part is that over time, the show did the unthinkable and actually overtook Oprah, which most thought was impossible to do. This is where the key business and, more specifically, marketing lessons come into play.
While many thought the show went too far, took advantage of people in dire situations and was just morally wrong (which I can't disagree with), you can't deny that Richard Dominick's idea for the show was great at getting and keeping attention.
Some things he said in the documentary that really stood out to me (not direct quotes, I'm paraphrasing):
We're all humans, and humans can't help but look when they see crazy headlines/things happening
You need to differentiate your show from the others out there. Springer started out as just another typical talk show. It would have failed if Dominick didn't come in and differentiate it in an “exciting” new way
You can't take your foot off the pedal; you need to come back every episode and keep people entertained
His main goal was to attract TV viewers scrolling through channels without the sound on
Most of you know I love marketing and social media. These lessons apply 150% to marketing and social media today.
For example, here they are if I apply them to growing a social media following:
Your first sentence or headline in your post needs to jump out and catch people's attention. If the first sentence is boring, your readers will scroll right by (this also goes for emails, blog posts, etc.)
Don't post the same stuff as everyone else. Put a unique spin on it, or pick a very specific niche that no one else has, or make it more entertaining/valuable than everyone else. But don't just be another bro sharing business quotes
Consistency is key. Posting twice and thinking you'll go viral is crazy. You need to post consistently, over months and years, and continue to get better every time
You have to find a way to stop the scroll. There are so many apps, sites, and just things trying to get people's attention in general. Use the first sentence, headline, video or visual/image to stop the scroll and then don't lose it
I didn't go into that documentary thinking I'd pull marketing lessons from it, but again, it's why I love documentaries. Because you can usually pull something from stories about interesting world events.
Maybe some of these lessons will help with your business marketing?
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