There is absolutely no doubt that the world of Marketing has changed forever. Social Media..a throw back to connecting to the customer directly… has been proven over and over as how brand promotions has to be done in today’s economy. The question now is..how to get the remaining 75% of the mainstream businesses to come on board with learning how to use Social Media as something more than a sophisticated form of spamming?
In my business I walk on both sides of the fence of business operations. On either side are proven methods of making a profit. On one side are the staunch traditional icons of the business world that are keeping the world’s economy on life support through old school marketing while on the other side are the startup entrepreneurial businesses who are managed by young executives who still have wet dreams of finding a way to emulate the Zuckenburg marketing strategy. Needless to say..but I love to say it..both need to quit drinking the Kool-Aid they make and come to terms with what is now becoming the new mainstream of business operations…Social Media.
How to Make the Change
At the core of social media is social networking. At the core of social networking is communications. The still number one form of social networking communications is blogging. Yes..blogging has gone Old School. However, until there is another form of communication that is digital friendly to new economy driven now by the multitudes of search engines, the printed word will be the engine that drives social networking down the new information highway built by social media. Already I am hearing conversations in social media gatherings about how they can find a brand’s presence on Facebook and Twitter but cannot find anything out who is in the company to trust. The reason..most companies feel social networking and blogging is not needed or do not understand how a blog would work towards their mission of making a lot of money, fast.
What many businesses do not understand is that the underlying strength of social media is in its development of trust. Businesses inability to puts their arms around blogging relates to the fact that most businesses do not feel trust plays any part of their business plan. It seems the attitude of many businesses towards trust is..I’ll trust the consumer as soon as they send me a check …which exemplifies why the economy got in the situation it is in today.
Statistically, a business putting forth a significant effort in servicing its customers through blogging or the effective use of social networking sites has a 85% better chance of retaining customers than if they did not.
I would say that just that stat alone would be enough for many businesses on both sides of the fence to get it together and develop new business plans. Hopefully many do since the economy probably will not improve until more businesses take what they do more seriously.
Let me know how I can help.
