There are two ways that your business can use social media correctly. Are you doing both?
When you connect with your clients, are you truly connecting?
It’s easy to confuse genuine connection with good salesmanship in an overly cluttered social media landscape, so Media Shower spoke with a true social media champion for insights on the right way to build connections.
Warren Whitlock is a business growth advisor and top 10 social media influencer, as well as an author, speaker, and social media strategist.
When you coach businesses on using social media platforms such as Twitter for business and marketing purposes, what are 3-5 points that are important for a short summary?
I encourage all businesses to:
1. Listen to the market you wish to serve.
2. Connect with people, not platforms.
3. Help those people get what they want.
I also stress that if you’re the only one talking about how great you are, you don’t need to shout louder.
When you say, “Connect with people, not platforms.” What do you mean by that? Isn’t social media connecting with people? Or is it not deep enough?
To truly connect, you have to listen to and engage with people regardless of platforms. If you just put a message on a social site, it’s an ad. Advertising is okay. Buy ads. But don’t try to cheat by posting ads instead of connecting or sharing.
Is marketing on social media more than buying ads? (like Twitter ads, Facebook ads, sponsored posts, etc.)
Advertising on social media is buying ads, but a good marketing buy these days is also finding or creating awesome content for your audience and knowing that they will be anxious to engage with you. Do not push your products. Instead, pull in the customers who are anxious to buy from you.
How do you do that? What’s the process?
Listen to the market. Serve their needs. Don’t push your message. Be social, but don’t be a salesman.
Since writing Profitable Social Media, how has the landscape changed?
People don’t change. They prefer to buy, not to be sold. Those who were taught mass marketing in the 20th century will still be learning this for the next century.
What value do you bring a business, and what principles can other business owners adopt to have the similar successes?
I do not bring the value so much as I find the value that already exists in my awesome clients.