Since most of what I’ve been asked to speak about or consult on lately has been social media/networking I have to share this. To start with, the inspiration for this post comes from my latest follower on Twitter, David Alston. So, by being on Twitter and looking at what a follower is doing I came across his blog, tweetpr, and a post titled, “Debunking the Social Media Barriers.” You need to read this if you’re in agricultural marketing.
I’d love to copy the whole thing but picked out a few choice parts for you:
- Search engines love the fresh content social media serves up and as a result social media posts, tweets, pics, videos all can end up in key shelf space on the first page of a Google search. And what most of you can agree on is that almost all stakeholders use search as one of the primary ways to find and research products they want to buy. So, while a large part of your audience may not be participating in social media it only takes a small but influencial portion of it to comment on your brand in social media and seriously impact your brand’s search results. If you aren’t part of those conversations and are not building relationships with those that are talking about your brand in social media then you are rolling the dice on your search results.
- I hate to be the one to break the bad news but you never did control the message.
- Social media is about building relationships, plain and simple, be it partners, influencers, fans, advocates, future customers, or current buying customers. It’s not about lots of eyeballs it’s about the right set of eyeballs. As such the numbers are smaller, as they should be, because they are in the narrow part of the funnel and closer to the customer. Wouldn’t you rather be talking about metrics that are easier to tie to actual sales?
David is right on the money with his thoughts on the corporate use of social media. And as he points out in his post, there are a growing number of companies (like ZimmComm New Media) that can help you navigate this bold new world.