Social Media Marketing Strategy

Maybe you’re asking – What the heck is “Social Media” and  How is it used in marketing?   Maybe you want to know the REAL reasons why you should be using “social media”.

Social media is a relatively new phenomenon and using it to sell something to someone can sometimes be tricky business.

However, when you strip away the shiny “technical” veneer of social media marketing – you’ll see that it’s just the latest “incarnation” of how we human beings communicate with one and other.

Social Media Marketing works well for those companies and individuals engaged in the sales style know as “consultative” selling.  If your company is actively engaged in any of the many “new” sales strategies – where sales consultants act as guides for prospective clients/customers – then you’re going to LOVE social media marketing.

Social Media Marketing is definitely a great fit with the consultative sales process.  Unlike previous “versions” of the web, social media is a great place to engage in the art of consultative selling.

Way back in the 1990′s and early 2000′s,  the web was a place where people and business owners created static websites that could talk “to” visitors.  It was revolutionary because prior to this time, if you wanted to communicate effectively with the masses you had to buy time in the media or buy the media outlet.  Suddenly, the internet made it easy to communicate with a wide variety of people from around the world in a cost effective way.  Even though this communication was definitely “one way”, it was still the first and best way to reach an international audience indefinitely.

While revolutionary, the early web was not without its share of “problems” and “limitations”.  The first was that the communication afforded was strictly one way – from content developer to the visitor.  If the visitor wanted to reply, well – use he or she could the contact form if it worked or send an email and hope it doesn’t get caught in a spam filter.   The visitor couldn’t know if the message got through unless the website owner responded in kind.

The second limitation of the early web was that not EVERYONE could participate in the conversation.  To create web pages, one had to learn to “code” – which meant that communication was limited to those who could master coding in HTML or later, various WYSIWYG HTML editors.

Since true “communication” flows between two people and since communication is one of the things the internet does best – really smart people began working on ways to make the web more interactive and they’ve succeeded.   The “new” web now allows website visitors the ability to communicate with the creator of web content as well as with others who are online as well.

As the technology matures, more and more people are joining the conversation online.

The new social media web could almost be dubbed “the web for everyone else” because where there was some computer skill required to get your information onto the web in the early days, the new web allows those who weren’t so handy with a computer to join the conversation.

It didn’t take long for  the non-tech savvy discovered what the tech savvy had known for almost 10 years – it’s fun to connect with other people all over the world. Everyday people began launching blogs by the thousands while tech savvy people decided to create other “communication” applications and websites that made connecting via the web even easier!  Those applications (like Twitter and Plurk) and websites (like MySpace and Facebook) have joined the tens of millions of blogs to create this new interactive web where communication and connecting is not only easy but also FUN!

Social media is fun – it’s easy and it’s free – what’s not to love?

Well, if you’re a business owner, a consultant or a high level executive whose reputation is an important part of your livelihood – plenty!

If you’re a business owner, maybe you’ve begun to recognize that this new free and open communication can have an effect upon your bottom line.

Average, everyday people now have the ability to communicate via the web.   Maybe you’ve begun to realize that your customers no longer have to know how to create a website to share their opinion of your business with the rest of the internet.

The good news is, the people who LOVE your product can share their opinion and/or experience easily with the world.

The bad news is, the people who HATE your product can share their opinion and/or experience easily with the world.

Unfortunately, guess which customer is more likely to share his/her opinion?

So on the one hand, social media options  like blogging, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are exploding in popularity- giving people more options than ever to connect online.

Even though there are more opportunities to connect than ever before,  all these choices may actually have you feeling “boxed in”.

Maybe you’re afraid of making a mistake when it comes to social media – and this is a good fear.  When a company makes a mistake in the realm of social media – the effects are long lasting.  It turns out what you don’t know CAN hurt you when it comes to Social Media Marketing.

If your company already has a well established brand – then a social media misstep may cause a bit of concern but won’t be fatal to your company.

However, you may be terrified to learn that the digital footprints left on the web are like footrprints left in cement instead of sand.   What if a social media mistake is the first impression prospective customers have of you or your  business?

This is not something to be taken lightly.  This is your company’s reputation on the line here.  What will people see when they search for your products – your services – you on the web?

If you’ve got questions -  contact Kathy to get answers.