I spend a LOT of time on Twitter. For me, Twitter is an amazing tool to connect and network with other people. I know a lot of you like to use Facebook and Plus for the same reasons.
Often, we will hear that we shouldn’t be ‘wasting time’ on social media sites all day, and that we should be busy ‘getting things done’. What these people don’t understand is that being successful in using Social Media is all about building human relationships.
As I said in my previous post, last week I got to visit Bazaarvoice and present Think Like a Rockstar to approximately 75 of their employees. Additionally, this was the first time I’d presented Rockstar to a company, so I was excited about that as well. But I think it’s interesting to consider how I got to the point where I could call Bazaarvoice a client. You say it actually has taken 5 years.
In 2007, I wrote a Company Blog Checkup for Dell’s Direct2Dell blog. I gave it pretty high marks, and in the comments, both Richard Binhammer, and John Pope (who was with Dell at the time) from Dell jumped in and offered feedback, and proved that they were listening. Those comments by Dell got a relationship started with the company, and 3 years later, I was moderating the first #DellCAP event for the company!
The event lasted two days, and on the second day, Dell’s CMO joined us in the morning, who at the time was Erin Nelson, who would later accept the same position at Bazaarvoice! So that’s the connection, right? Well last week when I arrived at Bazaarvoice, Erin was telling her assistant about following me on Twitter and she said she loved my tweets because I was always tweeting about college football and giving her updates on games! So it’s not my insights into brand advocacy that Erin wanted, but the score of the Texas – Oklahoma game in the 3rd quarter 😉
But that makes a wonderful point: Social Media is about CONNECTING with people and ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS. It doesn’t matter how that is done, for example with the college football tweets, Erin is literally one of dozens of people that have told me over the last couple of years that the love my tweets about college football. Others have told me they love to watch BURN NOTICE or that they also love Dr Pepper 😉
All of those conversations might seem like a waste of time to some people, but they are leading to real business for me, and I bet they have for many of you as well. And no, it doesn’t always happen overnight, and it often doesn’t happen when you try to ‘force’ it. It usually happens when you try to connect with other people and share with them what you have learned, and try to learn from and get to know them as well. Because Social Media is About Building Relationships.
Just like most areas of life, right?
I agree Mack. It is absolutely about building relationships. Other than the vendors we already work with, the only vendors and beauty bloggers we work with now, are ones we have already built, or are currently building a relationship with via social media.
Sales reps/beauty bloggers doing the typical cold call or email (what may have worked in the past) are just wasting their time now. They should be “wasting their time” figuring out how to connect via social media. Period.
Hey Tanya! You’re exactly right, and I think many companies are in such a rush to ‘find the ROI of our Social Media efforts’ that they might not want to invest the time in building those relationships. But people do business with people they know and trust. This isn’t about social media, it’s about human nature. Social Media are just the tools we use to connect to others.
Sometimes those connections take a while to bear fruit. But in the meantime, why don’t we simply enjoy being connected with others and see the value that those relationships give us, even if we can’t record it on the balance sheet just yet?
Mack – Making connections through social media is really no different than the social networking of the pre-internet days. It’s all about connecting with people you don’t already know, finding common ground, taking those relationships and expanding upon them for both personal and professional purposes. What social media has done is to expand our boundaries beyond what’s normally geographically feasible and has allowed us to create connections with people all over the world! Some of these connections will help further our businesses; others will just be for personal fulfillment. I say to those naysayers: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
Leslie great point about how social media are tools for building connections. For some people, they work better than the tools they previously had, for others, they don’t. But at the end of the day, I think too many companies are making the mistake of viewing social media as marketing tools. If companies would view social media as a way to better understand their customers (and as a way they can better understand the company), then those companies would find their marketing efforts improved if they properly act on that information.
As always, the companies that are making hay with social media are the ones that are trying to figure out how doing so could benefit them AND their customers, versus viewing it as simply a new marketing channel.
Mack, I think you and Tanya and Leslie are right on! It’s often hard for businesses to get out of the “advertising” mindset and into the “networking” mindset when it comes to social media. When I talk to business groups on the subject, I often get a “deer in the headlights” look when I bring this up–mainly due to the overwhelming nature of the technology. Things are happening so fast right now that everyone’s getting whiplash trying to keep up, so stepping back and taking a look at the big picture in terms of who your customers are, listening to what they want and where they hang out, and offering them helpful information gets lost in the learning curve of just getting used to the new tools.
Many are of the mistaken mindset that “If I build it they will come.” But that’s akin to standing alone in the room at a networking event with a sign on your head, instead of reaching out to ask others what their business is. You don’t get very far.
They’ve also been told by ad agencies (and most agencies still don’t get it) that social is another marketing medium. “Turn it over to us, and we’ll get results for you,” might have worked in traditional media, but it sure as heck doesn’t work in social–at least not without a hands-on approach and a solid plan of engagement and tweaking.
I think we need to do a better job of clarifying the big picture–and helping them get over the hump of using these new technologies. It’s all coming at them at once, and they’re just trying to keep their heads above water, don’t you think?
No doubt that social media enables a brand to communicate more effectively with customers, partners, employees etc.
Agreed! A lot of times, clients think that social media will magically bring in clients over night. It’s up to us as internet marketing professionals to educate them on exactly what you’re saying in this post. The goal of social media isn’t to *poof* bring in clients overnight…It’s about creating relationships, giving your business/brand a personality and connecting with your audience…It’s like putting a face to a name! Great post!
I agree to the previous comments too.
I remember the days when Social Media was all about the quantity of friends and not the quality. I believe that is about changed because I see companies that are able to put a face to a name –
by sharing their story, their excitements and headaches, discuss customer questions and most of all, creating relationships.
~Anja~
I love that rockstar presentation…have since the first time I saw it. So thrilled to hear you have taken it on the road to Bazaarvoice…funny that somehow I am not surprised 🙂
Thanks Richard, your feedback on the 1st version at Social South in 2009 was a big validation for me that the ideas had merit and were worth exploring. Where do I send the check? 😉
Mack, just send me a copy of the presentation so I can riff off it 🙂
Richard here’s the latest version on Slideshare – http://www.slideshare.net/MackCollier/think-like-a-rockstar
If you are a business or charity and you are using social media as an online marketing tool, you need to have a social media strategy in place.Social media has played a vital role in business marketing and strategy.