Use Social Media for Local Business Conversations
September 7, 2010 by Mary Ellen
“It’s great to know about this stuff, but does it bring a customer in?”
Pause. What can you say to a busy retailer who asks that question? I went for it.
“No, social media alone won’t create a customer. It takes a relationship to do that.”
People visit a store for a variety of reasons but mostly because they want/need/choose your product or service. Look at it from another perspective and consider:
Would 50% off encourage you to buy a bike helmet if you didn’t bike?
Does a newsletter subscription automatically mean an additional sale in the long term or just more work for you in the short term?
How many stores do you visit just to be a nice person?
Retail operations, in particular, need traffic and good reviews in order to prosper. By adding social media to other digital tactics, a brick and mortar store can begin to direct more potential customers or traffic to its location.
Does that mean it’s complicated? Conversation – real conversation – is complicated as well.
The art of “social” requires conversation – talking as well as listening. A good conversationalist engages offering give and take on various topics. Seldom is “me, me, me” considered good conversation. So, why in social media would you consider it good form to sell, sell, sell?
Because it’s transparent, social media serves as a public demonstration of business relationships. What’s happening with your company?
In a transparent world, people watch how you process information. Recently, a prominent Albuquerque attorney was stopped for a traffic violation and then arrested. While local media was abuzz, there was nothing forthcoming initially on the attorney’s Facebook page about the incident. Why not shape the conversation? Tell the story from the company point of view.
Business is used to be a “controlled” world. In the old school way, a company simply bought more advertising and put its message before the public.
In today’s social world, it’s not so easy to say “We care,” and then add nothing to the conversation. You can’t engage only in the good parts of the conversation.
Social media technology makes relationship-building easier, but it’s not a substitute for relationships.
How well are your social conversations going? Are you building a relationship or simply using a new channel to push your product. How’s that working for you?
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