The late Steve Jobs, ever the contrarian, is on record as saying ‘Some people say, “Give the customers what they want.” But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse!'” People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.’

It’s a philosophy that served Apple well, but it may not necessarily translate to every aspect of business. It also presupposes that brands are able to drill down, look beyond the obvious and provide unique offerings that match unmet (and previously-unimagined) needs.

Yeah, nah — such skills are very rare indeed. Unless and until you’re able to predict the future, it’s far better to find out exactly what customers say they want. Yes, per Mr Jobs, they may be wrong, they may not know what they really should want — but if you start by finding out their desires, then you’ll be in a much better position to deliver on those wishes (or substitute an unexpected but better alternative).

What Consumers Want in Social Media Posts

For example, Sprout Social research has recently identified a basic mismatch between the social media content that brands are creating and the type of content that consumers are actually keen to receive.

Here’s the comparison:

This latest study is consistent with findings from earlier research. Consumers like, friend or follow brands for two primary reasons:

• to find out about discounts, deals and special offers
• to get insider knowledge about what’s new

Sure, you can’t only be writing about deals and discounts, and new products don’t come along every day — but you should take note of the research and prioritise your content accordingly.

Brand Content That Engages

Another perspective provided by that same Sprout Social research: the type of brand content that consumers are more likely to engage with and share:

As we noted above, the better informed you are about consumer preferences, the more effectively you can post relevant content that they will engage with and even share.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SHARING CONTENT THAT CONSUMERS WANT

If you’d like to gain a better understanding about consumers, their needs and their wants in the social media sphere, you might like to check out our Social Media Marketing courses:

Here are the current courses (click on the links for more details about each course):

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING COURSES