It’s real, it’s here…slowly but surely you, me , and everyone else is buying into Social Media as a viable communication channel, networking tool, and marketing/sales platform. The realization isn’t happening all at once, but little by little, businesses and individuals are seeing other examples of success using Social Media, and they want to know how they can integrate it into their own marketing mix.
Just as the realization of Social Media being a powerful tool takes time – so does the development of Social Media AS a powerful tool. Social Media sees it’s foundation in one simple thing…relationships. Nothing more, nothing less. It all starts and it all ends with relationships, and your success depends on the amount of time you’re willing to put into establishing those relationships.
Social Media is just like real life – even though we all make a clear distinction between our “online” relationships and our “IRL” (in real life) one’s – they are one in the same. Building a relationship, earning trust, gaining respect, these things don’t happen overnight. Would you expect someone to fall in love with you after the first date? Probably not – it takes a lot of dates, a lot of phone calls, and a lot of swooning before someone drops the “L” word – the same goes for your online relationships.
So when I talk to CEO’s of companies and marketing reps about Social Media – I continuously use this relationship analogy. Like everything in our lives, we have a sense of immediacy. We want everything and we want it right now. We want to start talking on Twitter and expect everyone to believe every word we say and buy everything we’re selling.
Hint: We (collectively) don’t want to be sold to. We live in a day and age of technological innovation where WE make the buying decisions, and don’t respond well when someone force-feeds a sales pitch down our throat. Instead, we look to companies who are willing to make that connection with us, who may very well, at the end of the day, be most concerned with sales and bottom line revenue (because money does make the world go round) but when it comes to us – they’re focused on ME – they want to be friends with ME – talk to ME – help ME with whatever problem or issue I may have.
So for you – the business out there who is looking to Social Media as a viable marketing option – it most certainly is – but you can’t fake it – you have to be honest and genuine – and you have to approach it MUCH differently from the standard marketing mediums (TV, outdoor, print, etc).
Make time for Social Media, make time for the people you seek to connect with. Focus on the relationships FIRST…once you’ve earned trust – selling will become much, much easier.
Matt Cheuvront is the mastermind behind Life Without Pants. Take the next step by saying hello on Twitter and subscribing to his blog today!
http://www.socialmediamarketing.com/blog
