The More Things Stay the Same
- January 28, 2011
- by: Katherine Cook
- North Georgia Business
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The More Things Stay the Same:
Or Don’t Be Intimidated by Social Media
By Katherine Cook
I haven’t been playing around with social media all that long (I can honestly say I was really intimidated at first, but now I love it!). At first it seems overwhelming, maybe even a little scary, but, like a roller coaster, you need to just jump in and hang on!
I began by reading about social media; much of what I read suggested that with social media, the relationship between buyer and seller had changed. ‘Everything is different now!’ much that I read said. ‘Social Media is completely different!’
But the more I became exposed to the world of social media, the more I realized that the same sort of business and sales rules apply in it as do in the non-digital one. For example, lots of social media ‘gurus’ talk about the importance of social influence marketing online, have even written books about it, but of course, it is crucially important in the non-digital sphere (particularly in big ticket items, where purchase is a more serious-read expensive- investment). Of course, what retail store owner hasn’t experienced social influence right before their eyes?
In terms of social influence, it does seem that influencer-contacts can be added quicker and in greater numbers, though; that means social media can improve your sphere of social influence- assuming your particular influencers are online to talk to, of course.
While some of digital’s fine young cannibals talk about how everything in social media is about “customer relationships”, virtually anyone who has been in sales or business recognizes that it’s that same “customer relationship” they have been working on their entire careers. The concept hasn’t changed, just the method of communication. Nothing really scary there, see?
Many of the same rules apply in digital, like the famous “Four C’s” of capture, connect, communicate and close, just repeated in a slightly different way. You still capture the prospect’s/customer’s attention, connect with them, and communicate with them although a lot of the closing is done offline, I suspect. One good thing about social media is that the number of prospects you can capture, connect and communicate with can be expanded more easily in the digital world (and what salesperson doesn’t want more prospects in that funnel?).
Communication is vital in the world of business/sales, and social media is great for that. It really isn’t anything so different; you just need to learn that new method of communicating with your prospect. If you are a pro in sales, you’ve been communicating constantly with your prospects your entire career. You just need to adapt a bit. (And I believe that professional salespeople are some of the most naturally adaptable people around.)
Small business owners may be of a little less “adaptable” mindset, but they tend to see the handwriting on the wall and adapt when necessary. After all, that’s really the only way you stay in business, right?
A couple of small differences…if you are looking for a niche market, social media is great for that, since, once again, your possibilities are so much bigger and ‘work’ quicker. You needn’t worry that your prospective customers will be hard to find. Talk a little about what you are looking for and they’ll find you! That’s probably the coolest thing about social media!
Social Media should not be about hard selling; but most salespeople would say that prospects in the non-digital world are turned off by that, too.
I have heard people complain that qualification might be a little more difficult in social media, and that may well be true, but that seems a fair trade for the sheer volume of real possibilities you may find.
One paradigm seems to be changing; the world of social media was initially made up predominantly of the fairly young (teens and 20’s, mostly). Now the social media world is growing older. No, I don’t mean that the younger market is aging. I mean that more people of every age group are learning about and using social media. (The fastest growing group on Facebook is women over fifty!)
Last of all, I do not believe that social media will mark the death of traditional forms of media as many “gurus” claim. Social media moves very fast, too fast I think to fully brand online. One of the greatest complaints that marketers are making currently is the lack of ROI in many of the social media sites’ advertising. This is, I suspect, due predominantly to the sheer volume of participants and the speed at which social media moves. With limited ROI, however, very few marketers are going to invest their client’s money.
One thing social media can do very well, though, is drive website traffic. That means that using social media should make you think hard about adding ads to your site. We have.
All-in-all, social media can be a wonderful business tool to assist you in improving your bottom line. Of course, that’s exactly what email did, and the telephone, and probably everything else back to the discovery of the wheel.
We have a new tool to add to our marketing-sales-advertising toolbox. Nothing scary here….and nothing really all that different.
