Fortune 500 companies are not using Social Media tools for marketing and customer service but they are certainly employing tools to run their marketing if they're not.
Makes me laugh to see the top companies in the world thinking they are to good to use Social Media as a business tool, then let me say what a bunch of tools they have running Fortune 500 companies.
I only noticed Social Medias effects around 5 years ago when I was watching a TV program about the phone and electronic industry in South Korea. To my amazement around half way through the program I came to the conclusion that all I had been watching was thousands of people doing nothing but interacting with Mobile phones and other Palm type computers. No reading papers, no speaking to one another, no personal interaction at all. They were all walking around like zombies, in fact I was quite surprised they didn't bump into one another they were so engrossed in what they were doing. After watching the program I knew that if it was happening in South Korea it wouldn't be long before it happen to the rest of the world.
Now 5 years ago I was way behind the people with the real knowledge of what impact Social Media was about to have on the world. The marketeers were about to make Social Media a major phenomena in generating millions in sales and marketing revenues. It was here to stay and was not about to go away thank to the Mobile Phone market and advances in technology. So thanks to the marketeers yet again, we now have amazing tried and tested tools for contacting and generating new customers for very little in the way of marketing costs (for now) for any business you care to name.
As a marketing tool it is second to none, once set up apart from a little time it's virtually free. No other medium can do the things Social Media does absolutely brilliantly, it's ability to break down the major barrier of generating trust with your potential new customer is awesome. Another area where Social Media excels is in generating third party recommendations, the holy grail of sales, something every company tries to master with expensive TV advertising and newspaper adverts. Advertising executives will nearly always tell you that the minimum requirement to generate trust and belief in a product with advertising is when the potential customer has seen the advert 7 times. This cost is a none starter for small business, however Social Media costs very little and has an extremely quick response rate. I have set up hundreds of Twitter accounts for clients in many different fields of business and virtually right away been generating DM's asking for prices or quotes. The best I ever attained for a client was within 2 hrs of setting up the account we had 4 DM's for quotes and we only had 6 followers. This happens quite regularly on many accounts that are set up showing its not one off, we know what we are doing and Social Media works.
A like on Facebook for instance, if you like someones page on Facebook that's tantamount to you confirming to your friends and family that you endorse the company, so its safe for them to use and trust that company to, a salesman's dream.
So come on the Fortune 500 companies, get rid of the tools running your marketing departments and hire some of the Internet entrepreneurs that are quietly making millions from Social Media and have millions of happy customers.
Although I would warn any company that uses Social Media to make sure they are honest, truthful and offer good service. If not the Social Media that makes your company can just as easily destroy it's reputation if you are anything but honest. It's one of very few mediums in the world that can make a negative about your company viral in a matter of minutes. So Fortune 500 companies beware that you are straight and honest. (Was that a joke I just made, lol.)
Regards David G
How to make money with Social Media
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Monday, 8 October 2012
UK business trailing badly with Social Media
Why is UK business trailing so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to Social Media?
As a company in this field we have been involved in trying to grow awareness of the phenomenal capability of Social Media to generate new business, yet even though we are having a great deal of success it's still very slow going. So whats holding business back? surely it's not the cost? Social Media is virtually free when it comes to cost against results compared to other advertising mediums? once in place it takes very little effort to create a strong following either for a brand or an individual. So why the slow uptake?
Could it be because companies feel they are not internet savvy so shy away from anything that looks like it might be a bit technical. That would make very little sense as virtually all business is connected to the Internet these days and would not be able to survive without it, so why the lack of enthusiasm. Could it be that it's seen as a young persons medium, surely not? that's like saying we don't need to be in contact with young people who are our future potential customers.
Or is it the age old excuse we don't have the time? that's like saying we don't have the time to find new customers, we don't have the time to talk to our current customers. Yet when given the opportunity to spend a fortune on un-targeted advertising or mailing lists that contain 20% A's if your lucky, businesses jump at the chance.
Come on UK business, wake up and smell the roses, Social Media gives you a highly targeted audience to both promote to and talk to and does one extremely important thing as far as sales are concerned.
"SOCIAL MEDIA BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS AND CREATES TRUST"
As an ex salesman I know from experience how hard it is on the front line to win new clients, especially in this day and age where FREE, 2 for 1 and DISCOUNT are the most popular words around.
Normal sales and marketing techniques cost thousands of pounds and hundreds of man hours, sometimes to just open the door to one good client.
I am not saying we should forget about sales people, on the contrary, as long as the sales person doesn't pester a client they keep your business at the fore with your clients and create friendship and trust over time.
So, how about UK business waking up and giving their sales people a hand with breaking down the key barriers. Help them to be able to communicate with existing customers and have the opportunity to find new highly targeted accounts, Social Media does this with ease.
Why do you think big business have "Find us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter"? because they want to be in with the in-crowd? I don't think so. They recognise that one like on Facebook can get them seen by millions of potential customers, customers that are interested in their products, a targeted audience.
A like on Facebook is as good as you saying I trust these people so its OK for you to trust them to, why not add them to your list. That's a third person recommendation and we all know just how effective recommended business is and most importantly how cost effective it is.
Having a Twitter account is like having a search engine dedicated solely to finding people who are talking about your products this very instant. No other system in the world can do that so simply, business needs to get savvy, if you don't have the time to type a few words a day then don't moan if sales plummet.
Facebook, Twitter and other social media are not the sole domain of big business, any business can give even the biggest company a run for their money with social media and it costs very little.
Social Media is here to stay and in my opinion will be the future proof link to all marketing and customer service. Some media sites will not survive if they don't keep up and others will grow to replace them. Social Media will virtually replace traditional advertising over time as it is amazing value in comparison to other forms of marketing or advertising. With one click or tweet you can reach millions of targeted customers, try doing that on your TV or in the papers.
So UK business lets get going and start to build successful marketing and customer service media. If you wait your competition will have your customers and you cant buy a targeted Social Media presence of any worth, not yet anyway.
I would just like to quote a friend of mine from the USA who said to me some years ago "You know you Brits have the greatest sales people in the world at generating new business, why? because you ain't got a clue how to look after the customers you already have, so you have to keep marketing."
Take care, Dave Gould
As a company in this field we have been involved in trying to grow awareness of the phenomenal capability of Social Media to generate new business, yet even though we are having a great deal of success it's still very slow going. So whats holding business back? surely it's not the cost? Social Media is virtually free when it comes to cost against results compared to other advertising mediums? once in place it takes very little effort to create a strong following either for a brand or an individual. So why the slow uptake?
Could it be because companies feel they are not internet savvy so shy away from anything that looks like it might be a bit technical. That would make very little sense as virtually all business is connected to the Internet these days and would not be able to survive without it, so why the lack of enthusiasm. Could it be that it's seen as a young persons medium, surely not? that's like saying we don't need to be in contact with young people who are our future potential customers.
Or is it the age old excuse we don't have the time? that's like saying we don't have the time to find new customers, we don't have the time to talk to our current customers. Yet when given the opportunity to spend a fortune on un-targeted advertising or mailing lists that contain 20% A's if your lucky, businesses jump at the chance.
Come on UK business, wake up and smell the roses, Social Media gives you a highly targeted audience to both promote to and talk to and does one extremely important thing as far as sales are concerned.
"SOCIAL MEDIA BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS AND CREATES TRUST"
As an ex salesman I know from experience how hard it is on the front line to win new clients, especially in this day and age where FREE, 2 for 1 and DISCOUNT are the most popular words around.
Normal sales and marketing techniques cost thousands of pounds and hundreds of man hours, sometimes to just open the door to one good client.
I am not saying we should forget about sales people, on the contrary, as long as the sales person doesn't pester a client they keep your business at the fore with your clients and create friendship and trust over time.
So, how about UK business waking up and giving their sales people a hand with breaking down the key barriers. Help them to be able to communicate with existing customers and have the opportunity to find new highly targeted accounts, Social Media does this with ease.
Why do you think big business have "Find us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter"? because they want to be in with the in-crowd? I don't think so. They recognise that one like on Facebook can get them seen by millions of potential customers, customers that are interested in their products, a targeted audience.
A like on Facebook is as good as you saying I trust these people so its OK for you to trust them to, why not add them to your list. That's a third person recommendation and we all know just how effective recommended business is and most importantly how cost effective it is.
Having a Twitter account is like having a search engine dedicated solely to finding people who are talking about your products this very instant. No other system in the world can do that so simply, business needs to get savvy, if you don't have the time to type a few words a day then don't moan if sales plummet.
Facebook, Twitter and other social media are not the sole domain of big business, any business can give even the biggest company a run for their money with social media and it costs very little.
Social Media is here to stay and in my opinion will be the future proof link to all marketing and customer service. Some media sites will not survive if they don't keep up and others will grow to replace them. Social Media will virtually replace traditional advertising over time as it is amazing value in comparison to other forms of marketing or advertising. With one click or tweet you can reach millions of targeted customers, try doing that on your TV or in the papers.
So UK business lets get going and start to build successful marketing and customer service media. If you wait your competition will have your customers and you cant buy a targeted Social Media presence of any worth, not yet anyway.
I would just like to quote a friend of mine from the USA who said to me some years ago "You know you Brits have the greatest sales people in the world at generating new business, why? because you ain't got a clue how to look after the customers you already have, so you have to keep marketing."
Take care, Dave Gould
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Social Media Buyer Beware
I was interested to find the other day an article lambasting older Social Media creators, ie people that are over 25 who are capable as any of understanding and creating superbly choreographer Social Media Networks.
This phenomena is not the sole hunting ground of the intern or novice so called Social Media expert, in fact just the opposite, buyer beware: I have posted this small snip it from the article, well worth a read:
"One of my biggest gripes nowadays is the mistaken belief that I have heard repeated time and again in a form similar to this: "Young adults are so clued into Social Media, so we're going to hire an intern to handle Social Media for our brand." Again, if you are reading this blog and have found yourself thinking an intern is the solution to close the Social Media gap in your organization, this is another warning sign to proceed with caution and seek expertise where you need expertise. Social Media is the most important change in human and marketing communications in a decade, and trusting your brand's presence and reputation to the maturity, expertise, knowledge, and judgment of a 22 year old is as dangerous as it sounds.
Habitat found this out the hard way. Not only did they leave an important marketing channel to an intern, they also completely failed to monitor this channel or their employee. It is evident no one was subscribed to and keeping tabs on the company's own Twitter feed, or if they were, they lacked the Social Media wisdom to recognize a truly horrible and painfully apparent Social Media mistake.
This phenomena is not the sole hunting ground of the intern or novice so called Social Media expert, in fact just the opposite, buyer beware: I have posted this small snip it from the article, well worth a read:
"One of my biggest gripes nowadays is the mistaken belief that I have heard repeated time and again in a form similar to this: "Young adults are so clued into Social Media, so we're going to hire an intern to handle Social Media for our brand." Again, if you are reading this blog and have found yourself thinking an intern is the solution to close the Social Media gap in your organization, this is another warning sign to proceed with caution and seek expertise where you need expertise. Social Media is the most important change in human and marketing communications in a decade, and trusting your brand's presence and reputation to the maturity, expertise, knowledge, and judgment of a 22 year old is as dangerous as it sounds.
Habitat found this out the hard way. Not only did they leave an important marketing channel to an intern, they also completely failed to monitor this channel or their employee. It is evident no one was subscribed to and keeping tabs on the company's own Twitter feed, or if they were, they lacked the Social Media wisdom to recognize a truly horrible and painfully apparent Social Media mistake.
Find the full article at: http://socialmediatoday.com/augieray1/634661/response-why-every-social-media-manager-should-be-under-25
see you all later, regards David
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