Unless you have been living under a rock for the past five
years, you’ve no doubt heard the term “social media.” At its core social media is a platform for creating
relationships. And if you haven’t
heard me say it already, People buy People,
not products and services. What I
mean by that is that when a buyer makes the decision to buy, it’s based on the
person who sells it to them more than on the actual product or service they are
buying. Stop and think about it if
you don’t understand, because this is a crucial point in analyzing how and why
social media can help you grow your business.
Why do the biggest companies in the world hire celebrities
to endorse their products? Because
People Buy People, and it’s much easier
for a consumer to form a relationship with a living breathing
person (in this case a celebrity endorser) than for a consumer to fall in love
with the form or function of a particular product or service.
So, back to social media -- it is a platform that allows you
to generate your own content that connects you with a whole new world of
prospects who you can then take on the journey of knowing, liking, trusting you
and ultimately doing some business with you.
As in any typical social setting, you can’t be “that
guy/gal” who is known for being “a hard sell” or “pushy.” Think of the online social media
outlets as huge cocktail parties.
You wouldn’t walk into a cocktail party and start screaming, “Cheap
Mortgages, right here! Come on
over to the sofa and I’ll write up your paperwork, right here on the spot!”
Would you?! If you would… well, let’s keep moving.
So the key is to join the conversation that people are
already having and find a way to make yourself (and your products and services)
relevant. Ultimately, what you
want to do is join the conversation on the social networks and find ways to
interact with people about things they are already interested in. I know this sounds like it will take
forever, and now you have to worry about not saying the wrong thing, etc. I get it, but here’s the key to social
media: you can form relationships with huge groups of people all at the same
time. No one said you have to talk
to each person on a social network individually. This is where the real power of online social networking
comes in.