It’s not about you!
One more time… it’s not about you!
Each time I speak on social media, there are always those few puzzled participants that wonder why they should be diving in. There’s always concern about how they will manage it, the time involved, what the advantages to them are, and incredible concern about any disadvantages that their company may incur. A single disadvantage can stop a business from stepping into social media… and typically does.
At a recent event, one of the participants had quite a difficult time understanding why. “Why not the Yellow Pages?”, they asked? “That’s where I go!”, they said.
I replied, “Because you’re paying attention to how you work, where you go, and how you communicate. You’re not paying attention to consumer demands, consumer behavior, and the new revenue channels that are opening with new media. You’re thinking about you. You’re not thinking about where your prospects and your customers already are or where they are growing in numbers.”
Your prospects and customers are on search engines… are you in the results? Your prospects and customers are asking for help on LinkedIn… are you listening there? Your prospects and customers are talking about you on Facebook and Twitter. Are you responding? Or are you just signing up for the next Twitter scam to add 10,000 followers.
Is adding social media to your marketing arsenal adding more complication? Perhaps! If you don’t manage it effectively, it can be a lot of work. If you manipulate it, it can be a disaster. If you leverage it, though, it can be fruitful.
Once the point was made, the light turned on and this particular attendee became enthusiastic about the opportunities. Your business should be as well! There’s a ton of opportunity out there. Climb on board!
All true. However, I don't know what kind of participants you have, but anyone who thinks the Yellow Pages is worth it?!!
Businesses are scared now, because money is disappearing. Also they are scared about screwing up social media. Is the consultant they hire to help them on the money?
And using the Web to find out how to do it? Well there are a million geeks with no business sense for every one truly business savvy Internet marketing specialist.
Their fear is real. They are not blinkered. Educate them…
Oh, and did you know, apparently the 'blog' is dead, for marketing at least. Is this true?
If it is, all this social media scaremongering has to be the reason why.
Bye…
Hi Sahail,
As with any medium, there are still advantages (dare I say) to advertising in the Yellow Pages. Remember that there is a huge number of senior citizens that are not on the Net. If I wished to target them, I may try the Yellow Pages.
As for the blog being 'dead', I think it's an incredulous statement. Blogs are now being integrated more rapidly into every web strategy than ever. Blogs and organic content strategies have grown to become the most effective tools for acquiring organic search. The majority of businesses do not blog for marketing – we're going to see a reverse in that. EVERY other advertising medium is down year over year aside from organic search.
Thanks for the feedback! Look forward to your participation again soon.
Doug,
I agree that blogging is a great way to enhance SEO, and that it should be integrated in to one's marketing efforts. However, what kind of references do you have to back up that statements that “blogs are now being integrated more rapidly into every web strategy than ever”? As well as “blogs strategies having grown to become the most effective tools for acquiring organic search”?
Again, I agree for the most part with what your saying, but the statements seems a little strong and appear to carry a bias with them.
Just curious if you can lead me onto some readings that will offer more validity to your claims. Thanks.
Arik
Hi Arik!
You can always review the State of the Blogosphere. My 2 cents is that you should look at publishing sites of major media and you’ll find their Content Management Systems have been upgraded to include blogs. Business growth and blogging is also on a significant rise… pay per click is down and organic search is up. There’s higher conversion rates and subsequent ROI in organic traffic – and blogging is the most affordable solution for gaining organic rankings.
Doug
Wow, this is s very useful information. I agree it’s not about me. The social centric life. hehehe
Great info. I appreciate the good tips. Internet marketing is one of those things that a person really needs to research to get the most bang for their buck.
Keep the info coming!
Chris Moniz
VP Marketing, Internet Marketing Professor
http://www.drdavehaleonline.com