A lot of people are saying that whether or not Google Plus opens up in a strong way for business use, the fact that they can interact with people on Google Plus is going to help their business. In part, I can see that. Statistically speaking, the more people you meet, the better chance you have at meeting people you like or people who would buy from you.
But (because as Pee Wee Herman once said, we all have big buts), just talking to people and sharing kitty videos is not going to help *most* businesses. It will help you as a person, perhaps, or if you run a brand that is all about engaging online, you’ll be golden. If you’re an accountant, you may not be so lucky.
This is not a new conversation. People are equating followers on Twitter with business prospects. The logic goes that the more people you engage with the better chance you have of finding your buyers. Same for Facebook fans and blog subscribers. Again, for some folks, this may be 100% true. For a lot of people, it won’t be true at all.
Did I just douse you with icy cold water?
Let me say it a different way. It doesn’t matter what platform(s) you use in the online world. It’s the people you’re engaging with that matter. I don’t mean that in a warm and squishy way (this time, although I do love you). I mean that in a “Is this person ever going to help your business” kind of way. If your prospects and customers are not, for the most part, on Google Plus, you could share kitty videos until you see them in your sleeping hours. You’re still not going to build your business. You either need to bring the right people there yourself or go where the right people are. And I have horrible news, captain. In some industries, you might have to go outside of Social Media platforms.
You still aren’t sure about what I’m saying, huh? Hmm. Let me pull on some bigger names to help me out.
1. Eric Carmen tried to build his business on Google Plus when his customers and prospects weren’t there. The end result? He wrote the song, “All By Myself.”
2. Dr. John tried to be an early adopter and he jumped into all of the Social Media platforms before it was clear how he could use them to grow his business. The end result is his popular song, “I was in the right place but it musta been the wrong time.”
3. Very few people know that Bobby Vinton tried to build a business using Facebook pages, but none of his customers or competitors were there. That’s how we got the song, “Mr. Lonely.”
4. Most of Roy Orbison’s discography emanated from failed attempts to build business online (another little-known fact). Cases in point:
• Runnin’ Scared: About how Roy kept running from platform to platform to build his business
• Crying: Self-explanatory
• Only the Lonely: Which he thought about calling “Tweeting softly to myself alone”
5. Of course you already know that the Beatles wrote a lot of songs about Social Media engagement, but what they ended up discovering is that all of that engagement, as fun as it was, wasn’t connecting them with their buyers. Utterly frustrated, John and Paul wrote, “I’ll Cry Instead.”
6. Elvis Presley was on the receiving end of someone who was trying to sell to him even though he wasn’t that person’s buyer. We can sing along with “Hound Dog” and “Suspicious Minds” thanks to those experiences.
And I could go on and on. These folks have my back on this.
It doesn’t matter what platform comes your way. If your customers, competitors, or prospects are not there, as in, they are not aware of the site, don’t like it, don’t use it, think it’s scary, think it’s an utter waste of time, or something else, you will not be able to get them to buy from you via an engagement strategy.
It won’t work.
Engagement is great. And if you are using Social Media for personal purposes or just to learn, engagement is, well, pretty darned essential. But if you are a business, engagement needs to have a strategy tied to it. Engagement and your engagement strategy need to be kissing cousins.
See the difference?
Or do I need to get more rock stars to back me up?
This has been post #94 in the Engagement Series. Thanks for tuning in!
Image by Spencer Desmond. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/sdesmond
View Margie Clayman's profile
Margie, I’ve heard many super smart people saying this for years in different ways. Some people figure it out while others hire the ‘guru’ or the person with a huge twitter following to tell them what they need to do. If you’re all about Twitter, you’ll sell Twitter regardless of whether it works for the client. Because in the end it’s about getting paid and packing up the revival to move to the next town.
Thank you for being so focused and clear. I love reading your posts.
Sara
Hi Sara,
For some people Twitter is enough, too. You never know. But if you want to paint with a more broad brush, you need to be careful about the advice you give. Very few companies/people work the same way.
Glad you liked the post and thank you for the comment!
Hey Margie! You are as usual singing my tune! My motto: Fish where the fish are! #thatisall
Hey Margie! You are as usual singing my tune! My motto: Fish where the fish are! You’re a rockstar! #thatisall
Thanks, Deb. I appreciate it!
May I suggest you make the URL an active link where you reference the artist whose image you used? A kind gesture of respectful acknowledgement which costs you nothing.
That’s a great point. I have always included the URL and name (if available) but making it a live link is a great idea. I will start doing that from this point forward.
Thank you very much!!
Margie.
You are so funny! Or, maybe it’s just me… Anyways, it took me longer than I should probably admit to catch on. I know you are right. I feel I’m in the correct slot and I wouldn’t give one of you up if you threatened to shoot me again! (not that YOU have, but I have!)
The catch is, I know they are there (here)… but I need help figuring out how to focus on them. Maybe (stress- maybe) not here, precisely, but online the same places we are. I know I’m going to need help soon (like last month) but I am not wasting the waiting time. I have had so much inspiration and information come at me the last 6 months, I’ll be forever grateful.
No, you didn’t douse me with cold water (trust me, it would have to be pretty cold to get a rise outta Alaska Chick) but it did bring to the front again that we are going to need help focusing in. Thanks Margie, for the info, reminder and the giggle. ~Amber-Lee
Glad you got a nugget to think about and a laugh. That’s generally what I go for 🙂
There are lots of ways to research where the folks are that you need to connect with. When you get to that point, let me know and we can talk about it further.
Margie,
For me your a Rock Star… So let me know when your album is coming out I will clearly buy it!
You are very kind. I’d never buy one of my albums 🙂
I love the choice of songs Margie. Just right where they are in the aspect of social media. I’d like to add the song that goes “We have the right love at the wrong time.” In social media, this song means loving the platform of a business but the timing is not right because it lacked customer participation and engagement. lol. It just popped out of my head then I began singing the song.
Great addition, John. Thank you very much!
I make it a habit to argue with people I find smarter than I am (it’s a good way to get smarter) and while I agree with most of what your saying, I still think you need to leave room for what is considered to be miscellaneous engagement. If everything is “on strategy” it will feel like it and it will likely fail. It’s important to make sure that the strategy is there, but that you are still flexible enough to go off script and keep things genuine. What works for a business will never work exactly for a human, but being a little bit more human in your business is definitely one of the opportunities we’ve found on the platform. Our strategy came, but it came after experimentation and while most of that experimentation was as an individual, we needed to explore a bit as our brand to see what worked. At the end of the day, the places where we didn’t have a strategy, helped inform our strategy in the long run.
Hi Michael,
Sadly, I don’t disagree with you at all. You’re 100% correct that while strategizing about who you want to engage with is really important, knowing that you still need to be a human is equally important. Nobody wants to talk to an RSS feed or a person who does nothing but say, “Hey, now let’s talk about this Wall Street Journal article!” You need to be personable. However, that is where a lot of people go astray I think. They are personable but with everyone in the online world. There is no focus. Thus, building those relationships won’t do a whole lot of good for the business side of things.
Margie, I love reading stuff that makes me think, “dangit, I shoulda wrote that!” Just brilliant, gal.
I’ll add one more to your playlist: for the guy or gal who doesn’t care about any of this FaceTweetPlus stuff, there’s Miles Davis’ classic track, “So What.”
Thanks Tom. Great addition to the song list 🙂
You’re so brilliant, Margie! Love this post and agree with you 100%. The work in marketing is not chitty chatting on every platform possible, but engaging in a focused way, leaving room for serendipity, of course, but flitting hither and yon won’t bring home the bacon…
Hi, Margie.
You are quite right. It’s not the platform or the commenting system, it’s the people, the blogs and the bloggers. It does not matter if you are on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ or on Livefyre, Disqus or WordPress, it’s YOU that counts for something. 🙂
Hope you had a great weekend, Marg! 🙂
I did. Seems so far away now! Very well said. Thanks, Kim 🙂
SO many brands say ‘we need to do social media’ and you are dead-on with this post saying that its not right for everyone. While it is true that studies have shown people will seek out referrals and make more purchases based on Twitter activity, I feel it is more of an engagement platform. Hello?!? Its social media right? So I see it as a way to be social with my peers, my influenctials, my customers and my prospects. I dont think my actions or activity will result in a sale and I would be stupid to rely on it for that purpose but hey, if they do buy something or buy more somethings, then all the better.
Hi Christina,
I think there are ways that social media could be used to increase sales, but I think that can only happen if new media is integrated with “traditional” marketing techniques, and not many people seem to want to try that. They have a very “all or nothing” approach.
Thanks for the comment!
Margie, I agree with Raul: you are my rock star! Not only do you provide great content, you wrap it in a delicious manner that makes me want to eat it all up…but not before sharing the feast with my friends. Rock on Margie:) Cheers! Kaarina
You’re so kind. Thank you!