Being a poker player, I often get judged to be your average
reckless gambler who throws all my money (and personal belongings if you
believe Casino Royale is realistic) on the turn of a card.
In truth, being a successful player is so different. There
is always a luck factor – it’s a game of incomplete information that can change
with the cards that come after all, but succeeding in poker is about making the
correct long term decisions and being adaptable to things that change.
People often laugh when I say that, in many ways, playing
poker is a lot like running a business or in my case, social media marketing.
But if you take away the perception of poker often seen in
films, and clear the cigar smoke often seen floating around in these rather
judgemental scenes, then clear comparisons can be made.
1) Purpose – Before I make any bet in a hand I ask
myself one question:
“Why?”
If you don’t have a reason to bet, you
shouldn’t be betting. In social media, it is crucial to have a purpose for a
post or for it to have some kind of benefit. Whether this is driving traffic
elsewhere, retaining or acquiring customers or simply to get your audience to
know your story, purpose is everything. Being on social isn’t about existing
for the sake of existence (you might as well stop now if that is the case),
it’s about really making strides with your presence. If you have no purpose to
bet, or no plan for further on in the hand, then don’t do it.
2) Competitor analysis – A common piece of advice
often given to players who are looking to up their game to a new level is to
“play the player, not the cards.” This is often why, if you watch poker on TV,
you will see pros playing hands that you might not think any good. They know
the players they are against. They know the strengths, the weaknesses and their
habits. They know what each slight twitch of the eyebrow means, every slight
palpation in breathing patterns and exploit this to their advantage.
I don’t need to tell anyone is marketing
that knowing your competitor is important. Knowing your competitor’s strengths
and weaknesses allows you to exploit their weaknesses and differentiate
yourself by giving customers a reason to come to your brand as opposed to
theirs. Keeping an eye on rivals also allows you to pick up on mistakes they
make, and use it to your advantage.
3) The front foot – The key to success in poker is
aggression. The players who win the most are the players who apply maximum
pressure to the opponent. This is obviously controlled aggression, with a
purpose, but being on the front foot is all important.
Similarly, if you want to really stand out
from your competitors on social, you need to be one step ahead. You need to be
able to be proactive, rather than reactive. You’re not going to get aces often,
and you’re not going to be able to source content that will have global reach
everytime. The key is to always be on the ball and pick up on things before
your rivals and show the initiative. Being on the front foot also makes you
look like a brand that simply gets social
media, which is of ever growing importance when it comes to customer
perception.
4) Plan ahead – When I raise preflop (before any
community cards are put on the table) in a hand, I always try and plan for
anything that might happen. If I have pocket kings and an ace comes, I need to
have a plan of what I’m going to do if I get action from another player. This
also comes from knowing my opponent. Planning ahead is all about recognising
the different scenarios and knowing what you’re going to do to maximise your
profit or, in many cases, minimise your losses.
Social marketing is no different – being
proactive is all well and good but you also need to be able to be reactive and
to know what you’re going to do if circumstances change. This requires a
certain degree of flexibility, of course. Being able to plan for any situation
your brand might find themselves in is all important to success on social. You
can have the greatest content (in your eyes) ever created but if things go
wrong, what do you do then? Plan ahead, know what you’re going to do if your
opponent check-raises you and remember that every crisis is an opportunity.
5) Make the most of what you have – This is
important. There will be times in a game of poker where you’re not getting the
hands you want. You can’t wait for aces, they might not come. You play the
players, not the cards. What do you know about your opponents that you can use
to your advantage?
Not every brand on social media is going to
excite the masses. Some brands are probably seen as quite mundane to the public
eye. Your job is to make the most of what you have and get people excited about
your product. If you can’t get excited about it then how can you expect the
world to be? Think about what your audience wants and give them it, without
being completely irrelevant of course.
6) Optimise with limited resources, stay
composed! – When you’re running out of
chips, the pressure is on. The blinds (forced bets) are rising and your stack
is not. This is the time to be calm, composed and use what you have to apply
pressure. There’s an old adage in poker – all you need is a chip and a chair.
Not every brand has huge digital marketing
budgets. It’s becoming increasingly essential to have a budget, especially
considering recent changes in particular to Facebook’s algorithms. Think
carefully about what you want to spend that budget on and optimise the correct
content to what your audience wants and needs. Play the player, not the cards.
Poker then, can be compared to almost any
aspect of business. It’s about taking calculated risks, applying pressure to
your opponents, knowing what your rivals are doing, exploiting their
weaknesses.
The most beautiful thing about poker though,
is that anyone can win. You can play the Daniel Negreanu’s and the Phil Ivey’s
of the world and win. Any brand can succeed on social if you know how to play
it. Play the player, not the cards.
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