When a character in a movie breaks the fourth wall, it is always a sweet treat for the audience. Character favorites from Bugs Bunny, to Kuzco, to Deadpool, have cracked us up one too many times with the art of talking and/or relating to us through the screen. But more than that, it made us viewers feel included and the characters even more relatable. But what actually happens when you break the fourth wall?
Breaking the fourth wall happens when the actor or character starts interacting with the audience. It removes the invisible wall, signaling that there stands nothing between them and the audience. Now, what if I told you that you can do the same thing with your customers? That even in a corporate setting, you can still ensure your customers that there is no wall between you and them?
Instead of putting a distinction between “you” and “me”, it is better to let them feel that there is a “we” instead. Because let’s face it, without our best and loyal customers, our brands are nothing. Having said that, engaging customers is a common practice in the modern world of marketing using various types of social media platforms. These engagements are executed in many ways like contests, surveys, blog posts, infographics, and videos to name a few. Breaking the fourth wall in marketing oftentimes means that you put yourself into your customers’ shoes and see things from their standpoint; including them.
By letting your customers into your world, you not only strengthen your relationship with your customers but also build a better brand reputation for yourself.
Now let’s explore hows to the what.
Targeted B2B Marketing Handbook: Guide, Checklists and Worksheets
Find, engage and convert the right prospects with the right message.
Tag Team
Don’t just serve your customers sneak peeks and appetizers. Let them tag along with you. A good example of this is behind-the-scenes videos such as HBO faithfully kept doing for every episode of Game of Thrones. Giving your customers a deeper insight into what you’re doing or working on, is a show of authenticity and transparency. Like, “Hey, let’s go on an adventure. Come with me so you don’t miss a single thing!”
Rebecca recommends The Best Way to Use Social Media in B2B Sales Lead Generation
Together is Better
Your consumers will always know what they want best. So why not try and co-create something with them? Whether that’s a product or a service. Great innovations always arise when different minds come together.
Yay ̶m̶e̶ We!
Promoting your services and products is great – in fact, it’s a must. But once in a while, it’s also good to step away from the “me” and shift into the “we” perspective. Find other things that you can share your thoughts on and encourage your customers to engage in conversation. You don’t have to compromise with your content. Just choose content that’s still relevant to your brand and talk about it with your audience.
Everyone’s Got a Story to Tell
Everybody likes to hear a good story, and for a company, there is no story sweeter to the ears than the stories of your customers about you. You don’t have to white-knuckle hold everything in your grasp. Loosen up sometimes and trust your customers and even your own best employees to tell about your brand and how it helped them.
And last but not least…
Community is Everything
Look forward to building a lasting, healthy community with your customers where you advise and help them and they do the same for you in return. Trust is the glue that keeps any relationship. Especially a community together. It’s all about developing a good relationship between your company and your customers and maintaining a good balance in your marketing strategies.
Now the follow-up question is, “Is this really necessary?” and if old-school marketing were to answer you, the answer would be “no”. But we are in a new era of marketing where collaboration and relationships are vital to the success of every business.
Don’t be afraid to embrace change and new things and letting go of old ways that staggered growth and progress.
