The Social Melancholic (Copy)

Yes, you’re right. Melancholic people usually aren’t very sociable. The old adage about misery loving company may be true, but melancholic people aren’t miserable: they’re problem solvers who can’t stand people’s little dramas. This makes social media a hard sell for melancholic people, the actual movers and shakers of the world.  

The only problem is that everyone in the world is on social media, and if your business doesn’t have a social presence, then how will anyone know that you exist?  

Say hello to “the spiel”.  Everyone’s heard this word.  Nowadays we associate the term with flop sweat from haphazard presentations.  But there was a time when the spiel was simply a way for melancholic people to speak to regular people in order to sell them stuff.  

Imagine having to sell a fish to a stranger in the market and all you have is the fish in front of you and a sign listing the price.  By sweetening the deal with a great story about the fabled waters where it was caught and the high sea shenanigans of the ship’s crew, you’re not just selling a fish, but a brand.     

There’s a reason the ice cream truck has its own jingle. Nobody needs to hear a jingle just to crave ice cream. And yet, that jingle is synonymous with so much more than just ice cream. The jingle obviously doesn’t elicit the ice cream craving. What it does successfully is get kids to hound their parents for money to buy the ice cream. The jingle elicits memories of the last time they had to ask their parents for money, so they ask their parents for money again.

Social media is your ice cream jingle. The fish would probably get sold without the spiel. But would the buyer necessarily seek out that fishmonger the next time? Not if everyone is actually selling fish from the same local fishermen. It’s all the same fish. But a connection has been made. Emotional memories have been formed. Just seeing each other across the crowded market can spark the inclination to spend money. The ice cream man and the fishmonger are both spieling. You can spiel, too.

Social media is where businesses spiel.

The Social Melancholic

Yes, you’re right. Melancholic people usually aren’t very sociable. The old adage about misery loving company may be true, but melancholic people aren’t miserable: they’re problem solvers who can’t stand people’s little dramas. This makes social media a hard sell for melancholic people, the actual movers and shakers of the world.  

The only problem is that everyone in the world is on social media, and if your business doesn’t have a social presence, then how will anyone know that you exist?  

Say hello to “the spiel”.  Everyone’s heard this word.  Nowadays we associate the term with flop sweat from haphazard presentations.  But there was a time when the spiel was simply a way for melancholic people to speak to regular people in order to sell them stuff.  

Imagine having to sell a fish to a stranger in the market and all you have is the fish in front of you and a sign listing the price.  By sweetening the deal with a great story about the fabled waters where it was caught and the high sea shenanigans of the ship’s crew, you’re not just selling a fish, but a brand.     

There’s a reason the ice cream truck has its own jingle. Nobody needs to hear a jingle just to crave ice cream. And yet, that jingle is synonymous with so much more than just ice cream. The jingle obviously doesn’t elicit the ice cream craving. What it does successfully is get kids to hound their parents for money to buy the ice cream. The jingle elicits memories of the last time they had to ask their parents for money, so they ask their parents for money again.

Social media is your ice cream jingle. The fish would probably get sold without the spiel. But would the buyer necessarily seek out that fishmonger the next time? Not if everyone is actually selling fish from the same local fishermen. It’s all the same fish. But a connection has been made. Emotional memories have been formed. Just seeing each other across the crowded market can spark the inclination to spend money. The ice cream man and the fishmonger are both spieling. You can spiel, too.

Social media is where businesses spiel.