I heard this question no fewer than a dozen times over the last couple of days on the show floor at GraphExpo. Anyone catch the irony in this question? That’s the second show in less than a month where the topic of conversation, people sought me out to have, was social media. My goal with social media and community is to create inbound interest in me and by extension my company. Yes, it’s working.
A marketing touch by any other name is still a marketing touch
Every “stupid” breakfast tweet you share matters. Every tweet about your exercise regimen matters. Every tweet you make about sitting in an airport typing a blog post (I just did that) matters. Someone sees every tweet, every Facebook status update, every Linkedin update, every blog post you write, and every blog comment you leave.
Does that make my social media activity less authentic? Heck no. The conversations that started at GraphExpo often revolved around what I share in the social media space. Not the fact that I do share. Things like;
“You really exercise that often in the early morning hours.”
“You’ve been traveling more, is business good?”
“Is the business transformation you write about working?”
and the classic “How do you find time to write each day?”
Topic spill over. More often than not the conversation then turns to business on some level. Does each of those conversations turn into a a closed sale? No, at least not today. You want to be at the top of the customers mind when they are ready to make a purchase decision. Social media and community are tools that keep you there. I’m beginning to believe one of the the most effective tools in the coming decade.
Cell phones are now just delivery devices. Remember the fan fare surrounding cell phones ten years ago? Sure, us technogeeks still get excited when the newest iPhone, Android or Crackberry is released. For many of us, however, the phones have become mobile devices we use to access lots of channels. Voice, SMS message, the web, Facebook, Twitter, etc. The channels we use the devices to access are now where the fun and excitement are, not the devices.
What do you think? Does social media work for you?