Why social media isn’t working for your business
I’ve been told several times over the last month, “Social media doesn’t work for businesses.” Really? In that case, one of two things is going on:
- Your expectations are in the wrong place.
- You’re doing it wrong.
Actually, I bet it’s some combination of the two.
Setting Expectations
Approach social media like you would an in-person networking event. You don’t walk in the door and expect people to write you checks because you’re standing there. You meet people. You tell them what you do. You hand out business cards. You learn who others are, what they do. You take their business card. You have conversations. You build relationships. You nurture relationships. Maybe if you’re lucky you get a sale out of the event, but more than likely you’re going to have to do some follow-up work to get that sale. Or maybe you just nurture those relationships, exchanging emails or having coffee here and there, keeping yourself at the forefront of people’s minds so that when they need your product, they come to you first.
It’s the same thing with social media. Sure, if you put a link to your website on Twitter, you might get a sale or two. But if you converse with people, build relationships, nurture relationships, congratulate them on their victories and pass on their successes, they will think of you first when they need your product. If you’re there when they don’t need you, you’ll be there when they do.
Your expectation shouldn’t be, “I just tweeted a link to my website and signed up for Facebook. Why isn’t anyone buying?” It should be, “I’m so glad I was able to build these relationships with people all over the world.”
A successful social media campaign starts with meeting new people and building relationships with them, and having them eventually turn into customers. You don’t start converting people at “Click here!”
Doing it right
I’m going to keep this brief, because frankly, there are hundreds of people who write about doing social media the right way, and we’re all saying the same thing. Work on relationships. Be involved. Have conversations. Connect with people. Work your networks without being pushy. I want to recommend you read these blogs for some ideas. There are plenty more out there, too; these are just some of my favorites.
10e20
Chris Brogan
eNetworking101 (disclosure: I’ve done work for this site)
Outspoken Media
Tags: social media
3 Comments
Links to this Post
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Tweets that mention Josh Shear » Why social media isn’t working for your business -- Topsy.com — 07/06/2010 @ 08:55
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I'm Just Sharing » Blog Archive » Do You Have A Social Media Strategy? — 14/06/2010 @ 16:02
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By Mitch, 14/06/2010 @ 00:58
Truthfully, I think I do social media right, but I’d have to say that it’s not really getting me where I want to be business-wise. Socially, it’s worked fairly well, with tweetups and the like, but it would be nice to take that one next step.