Danny Brown

podcaster - author - creator

social media

How to Sell Social Media – Twitter

One of the questions I’m most asked is how do you sell social media to your boss or client. Sure, we’re in the space and can see the numerous benefits, but how does that transfer to a wary client?

A lot of that comes down to your belief in how social can work for businesses, and how you relate your client or boss’s needs into their social media equivalent. It’s not always easy, but it’s not rocket science either.

With that in mind, here’s the first in a series of presentations on how you can relate certain social media benefits to a business need. This time around it’s Twitter.? I hope you find it useful, and feel free to share with your friends, download, use on your own blog, etc. And if there’s anything you’d add to the presentation, drop it in the comments section below.

How To Sell Social Media To Your Client Or Boss

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You Don’t Say…

running into the game...Pop quiz. How many of these phrases do you recognize?

– It’s all about the dialogue.
– You have to fish where the fish are.
– You have to engage.
– You can’t measure the ROI of social media.
– Look at Zappos / Dell / Best Buy / Jetblue / Comcast as examples of how to do it right.
– Etc, etc, etc… (okay, this last one isn’t really part of the phrases!)

Now, second part of the pop quiz. How many times a day do you see or hear these phrases being used on a social network or blog? Once? Twice? Ten times? More?

My guess is that it’s quite a bit (and, I’ll be the first to hold my hand up and say I’ve been guilty of it in the past). I’ll try my best to steer clear of these areas – if I slip (and don’t quantify why I’m using one or more of these terms) then feel free to shout me down.

My point?

There are three audiences when it comes down to it – the early adopters of social media, the ones that have been using social media for a while, and the ones just starting to dip their toes in. And it’s time to bring these three audiences together. Faster. Starting today. Because really, there’s no need for differences when you think about it.

The toe dippers are looking for help and advice. Good, actionable advice. The kind that can take them from testing the water to the comfort zone that is the mid-term users. Where the theory is understood; the why isn’t in question; and the next step is the how part of the equation.

Which leaves the early adopters, who can bring bring all the pieces of the puzzle together. So let’s see that happening. Here’s how.

  • Experienced folks – instead of just saying, “You have to fish where the fish are”, enable the fishermen. Show them exactly how you fish where the fish are. And, if you’re a new fisherman, question people that say this and don’t offer a boat to take you there.
  • Quit using the “you can’t measure social media ROI” soundbite. If it can be deployed, it can be measured. Compare previous non-social media strategies with those now using it – did you save promotional money? Did you see an increase in website traffic? Did you reach more of your targeted audience? Was the process more streamlined? How many downloaded your mobile app? Did brand loyalty increase? Did your customer service satisfaction level increase because you had a virtual call centre? These are just some of the basic questions that can be answered when it comes to measuring ROI – but they’re good starting points.
  • Change the soundtrack. Yes, it’s wonderful that businesses like Comcast, Zappos, Dell and others like them are held up as examples of social media success stories. But their stories are old now. What about the ones we don’t hear but should? What about family farms? Or innovative approaches to consumer wholesale food? Or delivery firms? Or, if you still want to talk fish, how about an actual fishing company? There’s a whole world of success stories out there – isn’t it about time we shared the small ones that are (probably) more relevant to most social media business users (at this minute)?

Everyone pretty much agrees social media isn’t a fad – it’s showing new ways to do business and connect locally and globally. So why are we still hanging on the coat tails of where it was this time last year?

We know the why – every business entering the social space is there for a reason. There’s not an awful lot of the how, though. So – let’s change that. Let’s stop accepting soundbites and the same old examples. Let’s move to actionable processes and where that can take us instead.

In short, let’s not be afraid to open up and really get this wealth of information to all users.

What say you?

Creative Commons License photo credit: sugu

Mapping Your Way Through Social Media

One of the key takeaways that you’ll hear most in social media is that you have to listen. You have to listen to what your audience is saying; you have to listen to what your customers are saying; you have to listen to what your competitors are saying; and you have to listen to what your community is saying.

That’s a lot of listening. And with your time already taken up with so many other things, it can look pretty scary being told you have to do all this listening as well. But do it you must if you want to keep up, because you can bet your competitors are. So what’s the secret?

Simple – you make a social map.

Here’s your starter for ten – questions?

Mapping Your Way Through Social Media

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Have Your Say

Colourful armySo there are a few new changes/tweaks/additions (delete where applicable) coming to this blog soon, and I’d love your help to decide on how it pans out. After all, you guys are the real stars around here – I just offer somewhere to hang.

The first change I’m thinking about is the design. I’m tempted to go for either a fairly minimalistic look – think something akin to Posterous – or a more magazine feel like this one.

I’ll still be using the Headway theme to make it customized to how I’d like it, I’m just not sure which way to go. Thoughts?

Secondly, I’m starting a new interview series on video using wetoku. This lets you have a split-screen chat on video which viewers can watch live then, once the chat is over, the video can be embedded directly onto your blog or website. I think it’s a really cool little app and one that could take blogging into a whole new sphere.

And I’d like you to choose the guests.

Let me know who you’d love to see, and why. Pretty much anyone in the social media, marketing, digital space, PR field or similar – I’ll do my best to get them on. I’m not promising I’ll be successful – I don’t hold that much sway – but I am stubborn if nothing else!

So, a couple of changes, and I’d love for you to help me one way or another, if that’s okay with you?

Leave your suggestions for either option – blog theme or wetoku – in the comments and I’ll take it from there. Cheers!

  • Update October 25 – Going by comments on here and Twitter, it looks like minimal design is preferred – so, this is the new look that you’re seeing now. Thanks for your thoughts!

Note: This blog no longer runs on the Headway framework. Instead, it’s a custom WordPress design by Lisa Kalandjian of SceneStealer Graphics.

Creative Commons License photo credit: maistora

Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

street fightThere’s a question mark over “who owns social media” when it comes to business.

Some say PR should own social media, since they’ve been dealing with the public faces of companies since time began. Some say marketing, as social media is the new email marketing is the new direct marketing is the new cold call marketing (but all wrapped up in a fuzzy warm cloak). Some say customer service; some say legal; some say sales. And so on, etc, delete where applicable…

You know who owns social media? No-one. Not an individual department. Not a niche. Not a job description. No-one.

Plenty (all) departments and sectors (should) own a piece of it.

Customer service should own the people-to-people side of it. Sales should own the business development side of it. Creative should own the strategy side of it. Legal should own the “keeping the shit off the fan” side of it. Every employee (ideally) should own some piece of it and help tell the company story. That’s the beauty of social media – everyone can have an impact.

But one single department owning social media? Sorry, personally I think that’s asking for trouble, not to mention limiting the potential of what it can offer you. Give me cross-department collaboration (over one department not collaborating and making everyone else cross) any time.

How about you?

Creative Commons License photo credit: ernop