By Elizabeth Snyder, May 12th, 2011
Google Anaylytics, SEO, RSS, Hootsuite…..these are all words that imply techno mumbo-jumbo.
I am not knocking the techno mumbo, but I would like to point out that people are what make the techno world go round, and realtionships between and among people are what drive a business, and ultimately life as we know it.
Blogging, Tweeting, and Facebook sharing are all ways in which we are now able to reach thousands and sometimes millions of people with a few short clicks. YouTube allows users to upload video and share themselves in a very personal way with virtually no cost. This is so powerful, since you really feel as though you know someone if you can see them and hear them speaking. When you trust someone, you are more likely to do business with them.
Businesses would be wise to learn what they can about marketing online, and how to properly utilize the tools available to them to do so. They are no longer limited to the confines of their brick and mortar establishment. If they are able to think outside the box and try new strategies, they could potentially see their business grow and evolve into something not imagined before.
Here’s an example of something small and really smart a local business called Viva La Flora did just yesterday. I happen to be friends with Viva La Flora on Facebook. I never had met the owners, and merely accepted the friend request when it came along because I saw that friends of mine had already made the connection. So here, trust and the established relationship with my current friends are what allowed Viva La Flora into my world.
It was my birthday yesterday, which is visible knowledge to my friends on Facebook, and Viva La Flora contacted me to let me know that they had a complimentary flower arrangement. What a nice surprise that was! And how smart! I stopped by later in the day and was presented with the flowers and some chocolates. The owner took a photograph and posted it on Facebook for all to see.
I’ve already told my mom about this experience, so she will be checking them out, and I certainly will consider giving them by business the next time I am in the market for some flowers.
There are so many things to learn when diving into the world of social media, from the technical aspects to the subtleties of proper etiquette when using certain social media tools. I believe it’s crucial not to jump in too hastily. Rather, learn one tool and master it for your business before approaching the next one. Attending our conference will give you some great starting points and advice on how to tackle these items, and you the business person can take that knowledge and use it to build meaningful and lasting relationships with your clients.
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Here in the midwest, we don't talk about social media, we put it to practical use. Check out all the ways we walk the talk on Flickr.
What a brilliant and giving floral marketing campaign utilizing social media!
I agree, Karen. A small and simple gesture such as this can go a long way, and it would not have been as easy for Viva La Flora to reach me without social media.
I saw your picture on there on Facebook yesterday. What a great marketing idea. They understand how to use social media as a relationship building tool. Great post.
Brent,
Exactly! I’ve observed them being very consistently active on Facebook, and so I think they are doing a great job of mastering one tool fully before moving onto the next.
This is an awesome approach, and one my organizations and many others would love to take. One big problem, however, is that Viva la Flora is set-up as a personal profile, instead of a business page. The devil is in the details: a personal profile for a business is a violation of Facebook’s TOS and, unfortunately, it’s the personal profiles that have the ability to tag individuals (who are not already friends of the page creator). IMO, that’s where the power of this strategy is and, ultimately, why others have not embraced it in big ways.
Great idea! But since my kids tell me I talk to much, let tell you a story. A story of a mythical University mascot playing in social media.
There once was a university (local) that was stepping into social media. Wanting to do it right, and build off the schools pride of their mascot, they decided to use him as the voice of the University in Facebook, it is social media after all. Well this mascot, we’ll call him Reggie Redbird for the sake of argument, existed and quickly grew a friend base (at the time, they were still fans).
All was going smoothly and the friends grew to over 2,000 in the matter of months. Conversations were flowing, all was good. Until one day when the puppet masters behind “Reggie Redbird” tried to log in to their profile and post some updates. When they did, nothing. Again, they typed the password, nothing. After a bit of hysteria, and an email to Facebook, they discover that Facebook pulled the profile because the Reggie Redbird page was in violation of Facebook’s terms. In essence, Facebook killed the bird.
No pleading with the folks at Facebook helped in bringing back the page. No amount of whining convinced them to bring back the friends. In the end, we (yes, it was me) had to start over, from scratch. Building a presence in Facebook the right way for a business, with a Page managed by people.
Now while I applaud Viva for the creative use of social media, I would caution them in the practice. They may get away with it and never get caught. But if they do, Facebook is not very likely to give all those friends back. And it would be a shame to see all the work go out the door. Starting over is a great lesson, allowing you to rebuild as stronger base based upon what you have learned. But it is a hard lesson to swallow sometimes.