Crawl before you Fly

As more and more companies and professionals adopt social media, they tend to just rush in and get started. I believe those people are setting themselves up for disappointment when they don’t see money come rolling in, or when the 10,000 followers they’ve quickly amassed on twitter aren’t visiting their site or buying from them, or their blog isn’t well read after a month. The reason for the frustration is simple: the most important step has been overlooked. Before you tweet, blog, link in or facebook for business successfully, there’s a fundamental shift in thought that needs to take place. Skip it at your own peril.

The marketing dogma of the 20th century was SELL SELL SELL! SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT! Get in their faces and force them to hear what YOU want them to hear! The customer only knows what YOU tell them.

I offer, humbly, that the days of consumer ignorance are in their twilight. We live in an age of instant information, where consumers have formed networks to discuss their experiences and give honest feedback. They’ve learned how to avoid your messages and have furthermore starting to produce messages of their own. Your past, current and future customers are out there, talking, telling you their hesitations, and desires. Your ability to successfully connect with those consumers and really HEAR what they’re saying goes a long way toward determining your success. My friend Jeff Turner has warned against playing the numbers game. Think in terms of the value you can create in people’s lives and what you can do for them as opposed to what they can do for you (and how you can MAKE them do it). The companies that thrive in this environment are the ones that value and address that feedback, they view these sites as tools for building a more meaningful relationship with their customers through communication. The companies that attack it as just another broadcast tool are doomed to fail until they experience their “ah-ha” moment, and by then their reputation in the space may be severely damaged.

Although our company exists to help other company get started in social media, we have always been more concerned with creating a population of responsible participants. It’s of prime importance to me that people don’t look at this as just another mailing list or bullhorn.

While I agree that most businesses stand to benefit from getting involved in social media on some level, think before you take that first step. Listen. See what works and what doesn’t work, and why. Have a plan to engage can connect, because until you can embrace the changes taking place, you’re just going to be another talking head with no real audience.

Tags: Business, Marketing, Online Communities, Social Media