Guest post: Show social or show business
Made Social on 14 July 2010 | View Comments
In advance of Social Collective, we have been inviting select people to guest blog and join the SoCol debate, hopefully offering a fresh point of view. We have been asking a range of people to contribute, including those working in social, client side, techies, journos etc with a view of building a wider picture. Any questions raised during this process will be addressed during a panel at SoCol in September.
Our fourth guest blog in the series is from one of our Social Collective speakers Chris Hall aka @Chris_Hall1
Chris’ post touches on the outcomes of the first Social Clarity session last week. For those who are still in the dark, Social Clarity is the brain child of Chris Hall and our co-organiser Beth Carroll, who are setting up a series of round tables to in the run up to Social Collective, with an aim of addressing client needs. Social Clarity shares the end goal of Social Collective. We want to collectively find a way to pitch better to clients, produce better results and help clients grow their businesses.
Show social or show business
By Chris Hall
If your heavily entrenched in social networks across the digital world then your probably having a great time. Friendships are strong, conversations are frequent and it’s generally a great place to be. Who wouldn’t want to connect with hundreds and thousands of people with every tweet or have your Facebook ‘friends’ discuss your latest status update?
Last week I discovered the answer to that question – business doesn’t want to know about what we’re all up to. Business doesn’t care how great it is that I can connect with thousands of people in less than 5 seconds, because right now, and i know this is a generalisation, it just doesn’t get what the he’ll we’re all doing.
After discussing this issue with over 50 companies across the last 12 months there are well known key issues organisations face:
Time to learn the intricacies of each network/platform
Time to spend in the social space to listen, engage & communicate
What exactly will the return on investment be after this time has been spent
Who should manage/control the content
Approval of content is impossible in the time frames required therefore outsourcing is nearly impossible [In house is equally difficult because of the reasons above]
If listening is so important (this is what we tell prospective clients) then how much will listening cost? When do we get the payback
If business joins in then what happens if we become embroiled in complaints & negative reaction to our products & services?
How does it all integrate into all other marketing & communications activity?
Why get involved now when they’ve managed to get by without it
I could go on but that’s pointless. I know that many of you will have your own case studies to prove it’s worth but that is still proving less than convincing to the vehicle contract hire company, the software development house or the alcoholic drink company.
But companies still feel they’re better off without the pain and frustration of getting involved. Without social media they have time to complete their already detailed marketing plans & press campaigns. If that’s all working well then putting the “social” world to one side will do just fine for the next six to twelve months.
So what do we do about it?
The answers are straight forward. A process of clear and simple education is crucial. Business needs to understand how social media works before it pays for it, and why it adds huge value to all of their propositions while benefiting their products & services.
We must stop telling them how great it is and start showing them how essential it is. Organisations will not pay to be in a place where fun and good times are being had but they will invest in a place where
New and current customers are engaged and held onto
Lost leads are rediscovered
Negativity & issues are dealt with with ease and speed
Communities are developed
New products & services are launched, reviewed, discussed or promoted
Feedback on all aspects of your industry can be collected (including competitors)
All of this is how it should be. This is how I handle the discussion about why someone should get into social media.
In short – they shouldn’t!
Instead help them get involved in adding new platforms into existing marketing and communications strategies. Highlight how Twitter & Facebook will work with their new marketing campaigns or news releases. Prove that web traffic will increase with an integrated online approach. Demonstrate how a blog with opinion, discussion and knowledge sharing will open up a whole new world of contacts and customers to them.
It’s never going to work if we fill the platforms with rubbish and idle links. It must be about everyone being able to have a voice and communicate with friends and with brands or companies.
A hundred years ago they called another growing industry ‘show business’ … not show fun!
Food for thought!
What are you going to do to make sure we don’ t end up eating ourselves?
How will you approach your next discussion around this subject?
What do you feel will improve the approach to business?
This post also appeared on Chris Hall’s blog, Cow Bell.
About Chris Hall
Chris set up and runs Cowbell, an agency which aims to ‘rethink marketing for the digital age’. Their ethos is simple – Life and business cannot be played out in front of computer screens. Through social media and digital marketing Cow Bell ensure you engage, collaborate and talk to your current & prospective customers. Cowbell also makes sure we inform, support, educate and simplify the online world. Particular attention is given to emerging technologies such as Twitter and other social network platforms. Cow Bell understands that life does not play out in 140 characters but puts communication and getting people to talk to each at the heart of its ethos.
