5 Things We Can Learn About Social Media From The Mandalorian
What does the Disney+ space western, The Mandalorian have to teach us about social media marketing?
Believe it or not, there’s a lot we can learn from a lone bounty hunter on the run from the Galactic Empire for adopting a green baby.
So, here it is, without Season 3 spoilers!
Five things we can learn about social media from The Mandalorian…
1. Don’t be afraid to be shiny
When we first meet Din Djarin (also know as The Madalorian), he is in the process of upgrading his battle-scarred armour, piece-by-piece.
His shiny new armour gets him a lot of attention, especially from haters. He’s warned repeatedly that attracting attention might not be a good idea, given his situation and what he does for a living.
He hears the advice, but respectfully disregards it. He knows who he is and has confidence in his abilities. He is unafraid of conflict. He is focused on his mission.
As a social media manager and content creator, I’ve had the privilege of working with many “shiny” entrepreneurs over the years. In many cases, it became my job to hold their hand as they stepped into the social media spotlight, which always surprised me because these were hardly the kind of people you would think would have stage fright.
After all, these were professionals who were already at the top of their game. They were poised, charismatic, and articulate in front of a live audience. They had tremendous communication skills and were well-liked by their peers.
And yet, if I asked them to shoot a 3-minute video for LinkedIn they’d freak out!
It made no sense to me.
Why would these perfectly capable business owners get so avoidant when it came to being seen on social media? I had to drag some of them, kicking and screaming, because it was what was good for their business.
At first, I thought it was fear. After all, it’s common knowledge that most people hate public speaking, or being on camera. But these were people who — because of their professions — should have been past that point. Some of them were even professional keynote speakers.
Then it hit me. It wasn’t fear. It was cringe.
These intelligent, accomplished, respected people were embarrassed by the idea of calling attention to themselves. Because when you’re good, your work speaks for itself, right?
They were worried their audience wouldn’t take them seriously if they took to social media. After all, in the wrong hands, a lot of entrepreneurs on social media looked needy and gimmicky. We’ve all seen so-called influencers going for the hard sell. It’s gross and desperate.
But, it doesn’t have to be.
Promoting your business on social media only looks cringe when you lose focus of your mission.
You can leverage social media and maintain your dignity and professionalism. You can do things in a way that resonates with your values. You can focus on helping people. You can use social media to make the world a better place. You can inspire and entertain. To avoid being cringe, make social media about your audience, and not yourself.
Focus on these social media goals, and anyone who doesn’t understand them isn’t your audience and you can skip over them.
The Mandalorian is highly visible and well-known, but also focused on his mission. He is a man of few words because not everyone deserves an answer. His methods are constantly questioned, but he doesn’t waver when it comes to what he believes in.
Be shiny and don’t waver.
2. “This is the way”
Discipline and following a strict code of conduct is very important to The Mandalorian.
Throughout the series, he is offered many side quests but he always comes back to his main mission.
He is unflinching when it comes to honouring his word.
When it comes to social media, it’s hard not to get distracted and overwhelmed. A sudden dip in engagement or a change in the algorithm can cause panic and result in knee-jerk reactions.
Social media marketing is a long-term strategy and you have to give it time to take hold and work.
If you panic and give up or go back to the drawing board every time something looks a little off, you will never get anywhere.
So create a plan of action, set goals, and honour deadlines. Do not allow yourself to be easily derailed.
Be like The Mandalorian and don’t break promises to others and to yourself. This is the way.
3. This is the way… until it isn’t
Din Djarin is a man with a plan. But we all know plans sometimes go awry, especially when you’re a galactic bounty hunter on the run.
Side quests.
Robbed by Jawas.
Dark Sabre drama.
Single parenthood.
More side quests.
Something always comes up! Good thing Din Djarin is highly adaptable.
With social media strategy it’s important to recognize when things are no longer working. Sometimes there are changing factors that are just out of your hands, such as: algorithms, industry trends, or target audience behaviours.
Or, maybe you have to admit your lead magnet isn’t attracting the right audience. Perhaps your written content needs to be tighter. Or, maybe you need to create more native videos.
Right now, artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the social media marketing industry by storm. How will it change the landscape?
Don’t be afraid to pivot. It’s part of the game.
Constantly evaluate the effectiveness of your current campaigns, create new content, and engage with your audience.
Above all, protect Baby Yoda.
4. “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold”
The Mandalorian wears virtually indestructible armour. He has a jet pack. He wears a flame thrower and a mini-missile launcher.
But with all that hardware, Din Djarin’s greatest strength is arguably his ability to talk his way in and out of situations.
The Mandalorian is a master negotiator. He de-escalates before he shoots. He tries to reason with his prey whenever he can. He is careful not to give away too much, and only gives away what is most important.
He conveys volumes with a tilt of his head, and a subtle change in his voice. A hand gesture or shift in posture brings brings meaning to the conversation. He is economical and purposeful when he speaks. There is a reason for everything he does and says. He is cold calculating and methodical in his conversation.
His face is completely masked by a helmet he is forbidden to remove in the presence of other living beings, so we never really know what he’s thinking — we know only what he wants us to know.
Social media is like the mask The Mandolorian wears. It can conceal our true selves if we want it. That means we have to be more careful with how we communicate when the mask is on.
Your use of language, your tone, your sense of humour, the way you respond to negativity, and the overall look of your content is going to impact the way your audience sees you.
Your brand is your reputation, so you need to be hyper-mindful of it. Think twice before handing the reins of your social media accounts to someone who is inexperienced or unfamiliar with your messaging.
The art of communication is a big deal.
5. It’s a solo gig, but you can only get so far without a tribe
All the fancy armour and starships in the galaxy aren’t always going to be enough for a lone gunman.
Din Djarin has accomplished a lot on his own, but as we discover, he only gets more powerful when he enlists the help of allies.
Even if you operate as a solopreneur, sooner or later, you’re going to want to scale your business and recruit some help.
There are tools (such as Publer, Canva, Constant Contact, and Rev) that can help you with social media management and content creation. You can learn more about them and how to try them for FREE here.
And if you need to outsource social media management and content creation, get in touch and let’s discuss!
- check out my FREE eBook, “How To Blog Like An Entrepreneur” at this link
- try Publer for FREE and schedule your social media posts yourself at this link
- create beautiful images with Canva for free
- get closed captioning and transcripts for your videos with Rev at this link
- manage your email lists and email campaigns with Constant Contact here
