4 Things Mister Rogers Taught Us About Social Media

If Mr. Rogers could see us today, what would he think? Would he be on Snapchat? These are the kind of questions we ask ourselves after watching Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the heartwarming Fred Rogers documentary released last year. Despite Mr. Rogers’s lack of experience with social media throughout his lifetime on television, we noticed something about what he was teaching his young friends in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. We noticed that the life lessons he was teaching then still apply today. In fact, many of them can teach us a lot about social media! Here are just a few of our favorites.

(For the record, we think he’d be on Snapchat. But only to keep up with his young friends.)

“There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”

While you only get one first impression be it with neighbors or with consumers, each experience with your brand leaves a little memory with your potential and current customers. Whether they know it or not, each tweet they read is playing into their decision to use your product or find another one. Never take this for granted!

We often include a simple recommendation (among many) in our social media strategies: Only post content that you would pay to promote. Consider each bit of social media you schedule into the world as the very first or very last impression you leave on a customer. You want it to be a great one! There’s no room for mediocre content in this day and age.

“The world needs a sense of worth, and it will achieve it only by its people feeling that they are worthwhile.”

Treat them accordingly and listen to your customers. If your customers routinely give you feedback, either positive or negative, but they don’t get a response, they won’t feel important. Customers like to engage with their favorite brands. A ‘like’ here and there with a comment thanking them for their post will go far in extending their brand loyalty. Treat your customers with special deals and surprises when they make the decision to follow your brand on social media. Customers who feel loved are loyal customers… which leads us to the next neighborhood lesson.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Despite a few unhappy customers, it’s likely you have a group of very happy customers. Lean on them for support in times of need. While you should always be receiving (or asking for) positive reviews, it doesn’t hurt to ask for a handful of positive reviews when a negative review comes jostling in.

Another way these loyal customers come in handy? Content creation. User-generated content is one of the best-kept secrets of social media marketing. Don’t have the time or resources for a full-blown photoshoot for social media assets? Don’t be afraid to ask your brand fans if you can use their photos! (But always ask for permission.)

“You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.”

You can’t do it all, and you can’t be everywhere at once. The same is true on social media. There are very few businesses that need to be totally present on every single social media platform. And these businesses have very large teams created to support each platform.

Focus your social media efforts on the platforms that perform best for you, the platforms which you enjoy being on and which feel the most true to your brand. As an artist, it’s okay to forgo Twitter in favor of Instagram. As a financial institute, it’s okay to forgo Pinterest in favor of LinkedIn.

We have a lot to thank Mister Rogers for, but did you ever think he could help with your social media strategy? Probably not. He would be proud of the moves you’re making to improve your business. Because after all, “there’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.”

Feel like even Mr. Rogers can’t help you with your strategy?
Enlist Clementine Creative to give you the extra boost. Contact us today to get the conversation started.

Header Photo via Flickr