I’ve seen it a thousand times. A manager decides to get modern with their marketing strategy and creates a facebook and twitter page. The next step is they send a request to their friends and a few others to like their page or follow them. Their fan count then reaches 50 or 100 and they start blasting status updates and tweets for about two months until they realize a minimal increase of fans. They then get discouraged and stop using Social Media.

Where did these managers go wrong?

Selling VS. Conversating

Social Media is not an advertising platform or a place to solicit business. Now, I say this because Social Networks are like virtual bars and parties. People are there to socialize, find out what others are doing and take part in conversations. The last thing they want is to be solicited constantly to buy something. Think of it this way, if you were out at a non-business gathering and you had one guy that tried to sell you something every time he came up to talk to you, you would probably get annoyed and walk away. It’s the same thing in Social Media. Your Social Media Strategy should be centered around conversation and developing great content that your customers, or friends as they should be called, want to hear.

Mike Shultz, President of Rain Group – a sales training company, said it best in his article titled 8 Ways to Successfully Sell on Social Media. He explains how to “Boil the Frog” in which the old saying goes…if you boil water and put a frog in, it will jump out , but if you first put the frog in cold water and then turn up the heat slowly, the frog will stay in and eventually get cooked. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/8-ways-to-successfully-sell-using-social-media/#more-9320.

“Boil the Frog” with your prospects on social media. Ease into conversations by commenting and retweeting them with praise. Offer up your expertise or knowledge and create a welcoming reason to follow you. The sales phrase of ABC, “Always Be Closing”, does not apply in Social Media. The new phrase should read “Always Be Conversating”. I wonder if Alec Baldwin would agree, given his famous speech on the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross”? Great speech though!