Marketing Consideration for Social Media Types

Return phone calls & answer e-mails. Do what you say you’re going to do on time. Amazed how many social media *experts* still don’t follow basic business social etiquette.

Thanks Chris. As a Web 1.0 veteran, I remember when we all had to make a similar shift to doing less talking and more listening and integrating..with clients’ business processes, culture and systems. Its a good thing!

I’ve noticed a lot of business is Word of Mouth in our industry. Do something free for someone and ask them to tell their friends about you. You’d be surprised at how many people see the good job you did and inquire about your services.

You are so on point here. Many social marketers stay in the bubble of social networking sites and wonder whey they don’t have customers. If you are on Twitter, Facebook and have a blog 90% of the time you don’t need me.

You have to reach out to communities that may need your services. You have to go out an sell yourself.

Chris,

Thanks. I’m trying to build my own consulting gig right now focused on helping old school business development professionals leverage all these new tools. I think you made an important point when you said, “It’s amazing how the basics of sales and marketing still work.”

I see so many people who have already bought into social media become entranced with the technology itself. The old rules of the networking game still apply – meet as many people as you can, bring whatever you can to the table without expecting anything in return, and build human relationships.

Social media just makes this happen much faster and more efficiently. Clients I’m targeting are old pros at selling and are just in search of someone to teach them a better way to do what they already know how to do.

But with all the buzz these days on the social web, selling the concept as a valid approach is getting much easier.

Great, useful points as always.

One key things to remember is that most people don’t actively participate in blogs, post youtube videos, interact on twitter and so on. There are many potential clients that realize this could all be important to them but don’t know where to start. They need simple, basic education and providing that is great way to get going. You don’t have to be Chris Brogan to do that :).

It is possible that some of this initial education happens for free (though not necessarily) and that builds a relationship which could lead to business. For example, I was recently approached by a film/t.v. producer that is working on a very exciting project and they need some basic help initially. What is a blog? What is twitter? What is slideshare? Then the questions evolve to: How can I use these things in my business? How can I use facebook as part of launch.? What tools can I use to monitor how things are going? Can you help with all of this?

Based on this, I put together a very simple slide deck for my clients to walk them through this stuff and a simple 5 step process I can take them through, starting with simple stuff and moving from there. So far, so good.

The Willy Sutton rule applies:

“Why do you rob banks?”
“Because thats where the money is.”

WOW, You’re saying that other bloggers won’t pay me to do what they already know how to do?

Or, as baseball player Wee Willie Keeler said,”Keep your eye clear, and hit ‘em where they ain’t” .

Hey Chris, you said it well. I have looked all over your site, but try as I might, I cannot find your simple rate sheet. :)

Really the idea is to impress that first client. Most leads come straight from word of mouth, especially in marketing consulting. If you can impress one client and help improve their traffic and ROI, you will certainly be getting phone calls from others.

I definitely believe if you impress your clients right away that you should be fine. You got to excite your clients and prove that you know what you’re doing. Other people will realize that you are a mastermind and you actually do know what you’re talking about and that your service does work.

Hi everybody! I admit i hang out here.

The whole Twitter world seems kind of introverted and self-serving… these are some great tips to break out of the shell!

Ooooh. Hot button issue for Amber (which causes her to talk in third person).

As a “traditional” marketer now blending in some of this social media stuff as an independent, I WAS the client for a long time. And the one thing that’s killing me is the idea that everyone wants to be the leader, the glamour shot, the one standing in front of a room killing it with some uber powerpoint deck.

Truth is, I see few SM “experts” in my sphere that are willing to sit down and do the grit work: writing the social media press release. Launching the blog, including working with the developers to implement it and train people. Do research and write reports. Develop content, and lots of it. So even if they’re selling it to the right people, it’s all about being and looking smart and not so much about being useful and impactful (much less accountable).

If you write me a proposal, I need to see what you’re going to deliver, in concrete terms, how long it’s going to take, and how much it’s going to cost. Those are the things that matter to me as a marketing director, because I am counting on you to ease my burden and shoulder real workload. That’s what I’m paying you for. If you’re providing social media services, you’d better be able to tell me what that means to me on a day to day basis, not just in terms of standing up in our boardroom and talking theory for an hour to our executive team. Soundbites aren’t going to improve my business. Real work will.

Thanks for the reminder and gentle kick in the pants.

Yep. Twitter is a microcosm of this. The people you should be following aren’t necessarily those with 2,500+ followers, but the ones with 33 looking to make sense of it all.

Chris
As always great advice. I love the idea that SM people are pitching to other SM people, perhaps they think that is easier as those people already understand SM. I completely agree with Richie. Be prepared to educate for free first. If they dont understand what it is you are trying to sell, then your potential customers are not going to buy.
Simon

Great post Chris. I came to similar conclusions after getting some of my designs featured on design sites. It was nice to get some nods of approval from my colleagues but ultimately it didn’t cause that much of an increase in how many RFPs I was getting from potential clients.

I am launching a new website in 2009 with an integrated blog and my game plan is to start writing some simple DIY type of posts designed to help some of my target customers get motivated and see the value in branding. Hopefully this may give me more visitors who are customers instead of colleagues.

I attended a conference recently, where we, and when I say we, I mean, ‘The Press’, were effectively called out, and they declared that it’s all social media. So, you might ask, how’d I get a Press Pass to Digital Hollywood? It’s easy, anyone can, these days….

My point here, is that I can get good at this SM stuff on my own, and I don’t need an expert, such as in this case, you. So, I’m guessing your point has been made, and that I need to find what makes me unique, just like everyone else :)

The that I keep reminding myself and my colleagues is social media needs to help grow the business. If can’t do that, then why do it? I work with clients on helping them understand how to use social media, and even today, I was helping another understand Twitter. However, this is to support their communication objectives, which is tied to their business objectives.

And, I have to say, it drives me a crazy to here SM “experts” talk in absolutes. In this space, there is nothing absolute. Just a whole lot of gray. A LOT of gray. Yes, there needs to be goals and objectives, strategies, etc, but in the end, it has to support a business. Only one thing is absolute – profitability. Or, else the biz will die.

Thank
You

Shaun
http://twitter.com/EndTheRoboCalls

Also, on the deliverable front, speak in terms not just of “what” you’ll deliver, but “how” it will impact a prospective client’s biz. Especially if your clients are small biz with a traditionally more brick and mortar focus.

They don’t know or care what a lot of the social media “features” are, they just want to know why paying you is going to make them bigger, badder, more competitive and richer. If you can’t answer that, it’s game over.

Wow! This has given me lots to think about.

Great blog, Chris. There are a lot of ideas you’ve given that apply to me as a composer looking for future collaborations with directors, with some adjustments:)

Always, it’s three important things that matter if you are looking for business and have any web presence at all. And to my mind, these three things are the only things that drive business.
1. A Headline that matters – to your ideal client!
2. Media that proves you deliver! ie: a web presence, Regularly updated samples of your best Photos, Audio, Video, Words – easiest to do through blogging or commenting on blogs (if that’s where your ideal client will see them).
3. Calls to Action – keep just a couple great ones and focus on the engagement level of action – ie: follow me on twitter.com, subscribe to my feed.

Things not to worry about:
1. your logo
2. a standard web site