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Four Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
July 8, 2013 |Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Mistake #1: Starting Strong and then Giving Up
We’ve all seen this. You go to check out a company's Facebook page and see lots of posts and interesting things going on and then...nothing. It all stops. No posts in the past three months, or six months, or a year, or two years. I have to confess complete fascination with these people. Would they just give up and stop selling if no new customers came around for a month or two? “We put a new sales rep in Chicago, but he didn’t sell anything in the first couple months so we fired him and have concluded there is no business in Chicago.” How absurd is that statement?
In this instance, the real problem isn’t the giving up, it’s that these companies didn't really know what they were getting into in the first place. If a company has a realistic goal and a realistic strategy for accomplishing that goal--and having a Facebook page is part of that strategy--the amount of work required to keep up that Facebook page should not come as a surprise.
The only thing giving up accomplishes is making the management of the company look foolish. That’s right, the management. The management is showing people, “When the going gets tough, we’re outta here.”
Mistake #2: Using Social Media Only in an Emergency
I’ve often compared using social media to being a farmer: You plant a lot of seeds, that is you look at developing many low-key relationships. It takes time, patience, and diligence. And one thing you can’t do is rush it. You can’t decide you want to plant corn because you’re hungry today. You had to plant it months ago. I get a lot of panicky executives coming to me and asking if I can help them because their sales are poor this quarter and they need sales fast. The irrationality of this request just underscores their panic: If using social media resulted in a sales cycle that is much faster than a typical one, don’t you think the word would have gotten out?
Deciding in June to go on a diet so you can look good at the beach this summer? It's just too late.
Mistake #3: Unrealistic Expectations
There’s an amazing disconnect between many companies’ expectation and reality. They will say that they want to use social media to increase sales. Okay, that’s a sound goal--a good start. Almost immediately they will start wondering why nothing is happening and here is what the conversation I have with them sounds like:
Company: We have 200 Twitter followers, why aren’t we getting any sales?
Me: How long have you had the Twitter account?Company: Four months.
Me: How long is your typical sales cycle? Company: Six months. Okay, I have my first clue. Me: And how many of your followers are you actively engaged with? Are talking with them and moving them along into becoming legitimate sales prospects? Company: Huh?
Talk about your “aha” moment. This is like putting the flour, baking soda, and eggs in a bowl and wondering where the pancakes are. There’s more to it than that. These companies have made a good start, but they are missing a bunch of steps. Many companies don’t understand what they should be doing and wind up with unrealistic expectations, and frankly, no hope of getting the results they seek.
Mistake #4: Using Social Media as a Broadcast Channel
This seems to be a blindspot for many companies. Regardless of which social network they use, the content is all about themselves. Here is our new product, here is how to order from us online, here are more pictures of our president, and on and on. The content is one sales pitch after another.
This is a mistake on many different levels, but there is only one that counts: This is not what people want to see. In effect, these companies are saying: “Follow us on Twitter so you can receive two or three sales come-ons a day.” Seriously, would you voluntarily sign up to receive more spam every day?
People like buying, but they hate being sold to. And it’s tough to use social media to attract new prospects and begin relationships with them when they feel they are being sold to.
Good content on social media is never about the company, it is always about the prospective customer and their world, their job, and their problems. That’s what people are interested in using social media for: Getting information, instruction, and assistance in doing their jobs. So be realistic in what you want to accomplish by using social media, understand that it takes time and effort, and have a message that will resonate with your prospective customers. That message will bring them back for more and you will be on your way to developing great customer relationships.Bruce Johnston is a sales consultant specializing in social media and especially LinkedIn. He has over 25 years experience in high tech sales and management. He can be reached at brucej@practicalsmm.com or through his profile on LinkedIn.