One of the first question I'm asked by a potential client is always, "What's the Return on Investment for using social media?" Translation: When will I make money from being on social media sites. That probably sounds a little harsh, but the fact is many businesses only want to get on social media if they think it's a sure bet that they will get clients and make money as a result of being on social media sites. The problem with that mentality is that it treats all the people on different social media sites as numbers, which is absolutely the last impression you want to give people if you want them do business with you.
The reality of Return on Investment is that before you can get a return on it, you have to be willing to invest in it. And that means investing resources, but it also means investing in relationships with the people you want to do business with. Businesses that are only concerned with getting a return on investment for using social media fail to understand that social media isn't where the sales occurs. Social media is where the networking and marketing occur, where the relationship building happens.
The sales process can only occur once you've built enough rapport in your relationship to earn the trust and recognition of the person you would do business with. It takes time to establish value, and with social media it can take even more time because many of your interactions are done in a virtual space. When the sales process does occur it will happen as a result of building your relationship with the person to the point that s/he will be ready to do business with you.
I see so many businesses treat the sales process as some kind of mysterious flirting game with a potential buyer. But sales isn't a mysterious flirting game. It also isn't social media, at least not directly. Instead social media is part of the relationship building process you engage in, in order to stay visible to other people, establish your reputation, and share information. And the value people find all of those activities is what ultimately helps them decide if they will do business with you. The recognition they have that you can solve a problem for them is what will motivate them to do business with you. And that realization won't occur automatically. It will occur because you've spent enough time getting to know them that they understand and recognize the value that you offer.
The best strategy for social media is the strategy the recognizes the limitations of the medium that social media occurs in. All of social media occurs in a virtual space, mostly in text. There's a lot of context that's missing as a result. Consequently the conversation that's engaged in needs to be done as transparently as possible, without a hidden agenda. There's also value in learning the social media behaviors that are successful and help you connect with people. Those behaviors take time to learn, just as it takes time to develop a comprehensive strategy that enables you to maximize how you use social media in your business.
Businesses want return on investment, and want sales as a way of justifying using social media. But they must first realize that in order to get all of that they need to learn what social media can help them do and what it can't do. It can help them provide better customer service, better marketing visibility, and better networking. What social media can't do is automatically line people up to do business with you. That only occurs if you are willing to invest time in building relationships with those people, and social media is integral to building those relationships will become more integral as it becomes more integrated into our lives. Business must also realize that integrating social media takes time. You can't wave a magic wand and have it all put together over night. Developing a strategy and learning the behaviors that are accepted on social media sites takes time, but once the strategy is in place and the business understands the best practices of social media behavior, the return on investment will start to occur. And hopefully in the process, you'll also build some genuine relationships.
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