Is Social Media the Hottest Thing in Sales Prospecting?

Is the amount of time I invest in social media producing a measurable return on my investment? 

Is social media an effective means to prospect?

These are great questions especially because social media can become a time sink that takes up far too much of your most precious resource… your time. 

The answer to these important questions depends on the type of business you are in, and your understanding of what social media is and isn’t. 

I like to use examples to better understand how things work.  So let’s compare social media to some things you are already familiar with so you can make a fair comparison. 

Social media is kind of like a giant, and I do mean giant, networking event.  When you join a social media site like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. it’s like becoming a member of a group with millions of members that holds networking events 24/7/365.  That sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it?

Yet, people thought the same thing about the internet in general.  Businesses thought if they had a website they would automatically get millions of people coming to their site.  They thought if even a small percentage of those visitors bought why… they’d be rich.  It didn’t quite work like that and neither does social media.

While a real world networking event is static taking place in one location on a specific day at a specific time social media isn’t.  Social media is more like standing on the banks of a rushing river where the river is made up of people running past rather than water. 

As these thousands of people run past 24/7/365 they are all shouting out to you.  You couldn’t possibly know who to reach out to because everyone is rushing past too fast.  With social media the only way you can reduce the flow is to divide this river into smaller outlets known as groups. 

Groups represent people with specific interests.  When you focus on groups rather than the entire network it’s a little like joining a smaller organization whose members share a specific interest.  The group will get smaller but the interactions will be more meaningful. 

Time has value so ask yourself, “If I only have 30 minutes to look for prospects today what’s the best use of those 30 minutes?” 

Meeting as many people as possible?

Meeting people with a specific interest that are part of a smaller group?

Meeting people with a specific interest who are part of a smaller group that are already looking for something related to what you sell?

Meeting people online or meeting people face-to-face?