There’s a fundamental truth that many companies don’t understand or ‘get’ about social media. Here it is:
Social media are sites and tools that people use primarily as personal communication channels.
Too many companies don’t understand this, and attempt to use these tools and sites as direct sales channels, and typically have poor results. That’s not to say that you can’t make money with social media, you absolutely can.
But the companies that are doing so are usually the ones that are using these sites and tools to create and develop PERSONAL relationships with their customers. The sale is a SECONDARY objective.
Read that part again: These companies understand that by participating in social media and creating VALUE for their customers, that sales will occur INDIRECTLY.
How many times have you heard that ‘It’s all about the sale!’ or ‘Why are we doing social media if it’s not getting us sales?!?’ Total BS. Because that mindset is focused on what’s good for the company. If your company wants to succeed in social media then you have to create value for your customers.
Period. End. Of. Sentence.
Don’t focus on how you can turn social media into a sales funnel for your company, think about how you can use these tools to create value for your customers. Do that, and the money will follow.
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I need to print this out and tape the title to my laptop. This is golden.
Thank you Mary!
The point of marketing in any channel, on or offline is to make money, not friends. That doesn’t mean you should say “buy now”, “buy now”, “buy now”. Providing content value to your consumers is a tactic to keep your brand on the top of the a consumers minds, so they think of you when making a purchase. The sale is the primary objective, even if it comes months down the line.
It is for marketers employ a social strategy that isn’t based on what’s good for the company? Doing what’s bad for the company is a good way to lose money, and get fired.
If you are not making money from social, you are doing it wrong.
Evan I agree with you in principle. Where I look at it differently is in the sale being the primary objective when using social media. IMO value creation is the primary objective, sales is secondary. Again, social media marketing is marketing done via PERSONAL communication channels. That means the marketing you do via these channels has to be consistent with the way your customers use these same tools. Ergo, your primary objective should be using these tools as your customers do in a way that creates VALUE for them.
With the understanding that if you DO create value, the SALES will be the result.
For example, my primary goal for this blog isn’t to generate sales. It’s to create content that others find value in. Because I know if that happens, that will lead to me being hired to either consult or speak on these same topics. Or both. But if I make sales my primary goal, the type of content I create here changes, and becomes less VALUABLE to the people I am trying to connect with (customers).
Social media doesn’t work well as a way to directly generate sales. But it can be an amazingly effective way to INdirectly generate sales.
Yes, I totally agree and I am taking action and creating content that my fans really want. not easy but needed. Good post.
I totally agree, but it is difficult to get business owners to commit the time, resources and money when they can’t tie it directly to sales. I’m starting to resort to asking them to have dedicated phone lines and use social media-only coupon codes to start tracking better. It’s a learning process and they will get there eventually!
Alisha not sure if you are a consultant, but what consultants have to do is help business owners make that connection between their efforts and sales and/or lowered costs. It might not be a straight line, but the boss won’t sign off on spending the money unless she can see how it will lead to either sales or lowered costs.
It’s the job of the consultant or her employee to help her see that connection, then act on it.
Yes, I am a consultant. Businesses seem to have no problem spending big on phone book or billboard ads because they have a belief that they work, even if they have no tracking in place. Social media is still held to a higher standard.
This. > “that sales will occur INDIRECTLY”.
Gives the ROI advocates the shakes.
Hey, Mack. I completely agree with you that making money with social media is most likely to result when you provide value to your customers. I don’t think that necessarily requires building a personal relationship with them, though. In fact, I think a lot of times people don’t want to build a personal relationship with companies. But they are more than willing to “engage” with them on some level if they are getting something valuable from that engagement. (And, no, I don’t mean just coupons or discounts or monetary value.) While people don’t necessarily want to get personal with a company, companies that help people get personal and build or deepen relationships with other people are adding value, and more likely to keep the customer’s attention.
I actually think that we are at the beginning of a shift in thinking toward this value-add approach and away from the “converse and build a relationship” approach.
Neicole you are correct, a personal relationship doesn’t have to be there, and in many cases the customer does NOT want that. And sometimes brands can be TOO responsive to customers. How often have one of us made a comment about a brand on Twitter, just to be making a comment, and within minutes the brand reaches out to us. Maybe we didn’t expect or even WANT the brand to respond, but I guess that’s better than a brand that never listens and never acts 😉
Like you, I hope that companies are beginning to realize that adding value leads to sales. I think social media marketing exposes this because it works best when sales are the indirect goal, making value-creation the primary goal.
Agreed. Creating value for customers is the first thing to focus.
Thank you Mack – this is a message that has needed to be said for a long time! I think there is no greater turn off for people than knowing they’re simply being marketed to. Twitter is a place where great relationships can begin, and collaborations, sales and all the rest fall naturally into place. I truly appreciated this great post! 🙂
Thank you! Once again you are dead on Mack. You have taken a concept so vital and explained it in clear and simple language. Companies that still don’t “get it” after reading this, just are listening.
I do like this very much – and I strive to be personable and use my Social Media platforms to inspire and interact – engage – with my customers. Relationship Marketing is easy if you just take off your ‘sales’ hat – get real – be funny – be engaging. If you make a sale – wonderful! (The punchline is that if you *are* engaging, fun and personable, you will always make the sale!)
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