Boy, there are a lot of consultants out there promoting social media, but there is also a lot who can’t tie it together into one nice neat package.
Don’t get me wrong, for a free event, it is a must go to! I enjoyed it thoroughly and I gathered a lot of information and ideas for my social media plight.
However, there doesn’t appear to be a consensus on how to use social media and how to quantify social media success.
For example, if you are considered an “Expert” in social media, how much clout does the social media analytics Klout and Peer Rank really have? Do we rely on their analytics or from the amount of visits from our website? Some consultants don’t know about it, some consultants believe that it’s reliable, while other’s feel that this form of analytics is too new to judge.
Another example, a lady asked how she can work with Social Media when she encourages her client’s to “Turn off the Noise”? She believed that it would be hypocritical. No one could answer that! My answer would have been “Wayne Dyer is very active in Social Media but readily admits that the noise is too loud for him so someone else does it for him. It’s all about income generation and if you think these meditative guru’s are going to miss the Social Media boat – you’re sadly mistaken.”
Social Media business success is like throwing the proverbial dirt against a brick wall. There truly is no expert out there that can guide you on how to make it work. They can setup your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIN, but how you use it depends on your online personality. Your business’ level of trust depends on your personality. Keep in mind the amount of trust you gain today, doesn’t necessarily mean that it will remain that way tomorrow. The next day however, could be the ray of sunshine you’ve been waiting for!
If you start a Social Media Campaign, I suggest you plan for the best possible outcome, but be prepared to tweak your message and wait a long time before you become the “Expert”. Unless you’ve created your brand name, like Blackberry or Kleenex, you need to work hard at getting to the expert status in your field.
Be engaging, respond to your followers, keep abreast on the news and communicate about it. Social media isn’t about your company, it’s about engagement and trust. As with anything in life, once their is trust, the people will follow.
I seen a tweet today that I completely agree with:
@unmarketing: The 5 Steps of Twitter Success: Follow, Reply, Retweet, Share, Repeat
Same goes with Facebook (all of your customers are there)
If you don’t have the time to do that from your Blackberry or Mobile device, then I don’t think you truly have the time that your potential customers deserve.
