Social Media in Business: “It Doesn’t Work”

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Social Media in Business: “It Doesn’t Work”

by Barney Austen on March 4th, 2010
31 Comments

The title for this post stemmed from a conversation overheard in a group of supposedly forward thinking individuals who were discussing their business plans. When success stories of contacts made and leads gained were used as examples of social media success these were dismissed as being irrelevant as there was no cash being made.

This created a question to the “social media sucks” brigade;

What avenues were you using?

This elicited the right answer. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and blogging. Well so far, so good. But then the next question identified where the problem was;

How long have you been doing it for?

We stopped after a few weeks, we weren’t making any headway.

And therein lies the issue. It amazed me that business people were still thinking that they are going to elicit an immediate response to their social media campaigning and that they will start making money straight away.

Those of us who are actively engaged in social media as part of our marketing strategies know this. We know how much time and effort it takes to generate meaningful contacts which, in turn, will generate revenues – either directly from the contacts we make or 2nd/3rd hand from our contacts links.

I understand the frustration felt by small business owners. They are trying to do a million things at once and if something does not seem to be having an immediate effect, it tends to get dropped in favour of things that give an immediate satisfaction or benefit to the business. However, social media cannot be ignored and the time it takes is well spent.

A contact I know has made over Stg100K directly as a result of blogging and using Twitter. 80% of the sign-ups for our beta testing have come from social media connections (including this site – so thanks for that!). These are tangible results for the success of social media. These examples alone show the benefits of a social media marketing strategy.

Social media marketing requires a strategy, it’s no good doing it “willy-nilly”, and time. The former can be created with a bit of research, the latter just needs to be planned into the working day. Blogs can be created in advance. There are ways out there to be used to help you post automatically on Twitter (though make sure to interact as well), along with a host of other tools.

There is no excuse or reason for not engaging with social media in your business. It is too powerful an opportunity to ignore. But no, you won’t see a result in two weeks! (unless you are very lucky!).

Any helpful hints on engaging with social media for the unconverted?

Category: Linkedin, online marketing, Social media Marketing

Tags: Brand Development, marketing, social media, Social media Marketing, socila media impact, tips

The Author: Barney Austen

Budding entrepeneur working on software product solutions for business. My background is mainly operational and senior management roles in mobile telecoms and software houses. Areas of expertise include professional services, out-sourcing, team management and general operations management. I've made the conscious decision to create my own company having spent the last 20 years learning in the corporate world. In my contributions to this forum, I will share some insights and learnings that I've picked up along the way and hopefully they will be useful to some or all! http://www.myprojecttracker.com

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Anonymous

I agree with Brad’s Advice, I find the telephone a huge interruption, I sometimes try to have “phone-free” slots during the day, but then sometimes it’s urgent and/or if it’s a call from a new/prospective client, I don’t want to lose them, or I think I will deal with the call just to have done with it…

Do you not find that people/clients/contacts are now less patient and less willing to “wait”?

Time Management requires alot of self-discipline – I know all the theory but find the practice so much harder!
http://www.channelship.ie/blog/ Fred

Nice on Barney. I come across some many businesses every now and then that come up with the same conclusion unfortunately. The main problem is that they think social media is a free super power that will accomplish the first thing they want (get them more money, increase traffic) and that because everyone else in doing it, they must do it tomorrow. There are no secrets, as you mentioned, “Social media marketing requires a strategy”, in fact what doesn’t require a strategy? especially in business!! nothing new, but not sure why people ignore this, including experienced marketers.
Two weeks ago, I wrote a post on how easy was to make your business different with your competitors with social media. Then I had people saying that those examples where only applicable to the retail industry so I took the challenge and wrote another post for the professional services industry. No excuses now “Social media marketing for professional services” http://bit.ly/cV3NeI“
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Fred. Thanks for the comment. I’ll have a read of that post of yours too. Dead right on the strategy piece – every bit of the business needs one, even if it can be covered in a half page. Once it’s written down, it’s more likely to happen!
http://www.codegaconsulting.com/ Una Coleman

I’m with you Barney. It’s astounding the number of companies who don’t even update their websites, let alone implement an SMM strategy. Yes, it’s hard but that’s business! As so many of the leading experts in the digital landscape pointed out at yeserday’s #DLUCD (Digial Landscape Conference, see under Bloggertone Announcements) the limits of geography are gone. The internet is the best enabler ever! Web 2.0 technology and social networking platforms give us enormous reach. Time to take it seriously. Time to Engage. Time to Interact.
http://www.sianphillips.ie Sian Phillips

Great post Barney. I speak to SME’s every day and a lot are just beginning to realise that Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook could actually help their business. For example a year ago I spoke to a Locksmith that advertises with us and told him how well Twitter was working for us. I could not re-produce his expletive reply here but needless to say he thought it was a load of rubbish. A year later he calls me to ask how to set himself up on Twitter and what to do!! We are trying to impress on SME’s listed with Whatswhat.ie the importance of Social Media and have recently added Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Youtube links for our paid listings. My blog – Twitter and My Business explained how well it has worked for us and someone reading that set himself up on Twitter and gained business the same morning – he sent me a message to say thanks. But, yes normally you do have to stick with it for a while to start building up your reputation and see results. I’ll be pointing the Nay-Sayers to this blog and hopefully convince a few.
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Love it Barney! Social media is often seen as some kind of silver bullet where normal rules don’t apply. You are so right, It takes time, it takes effort, it takes a plan and it requires thought. Simply having a presence alone doesn’t equate to much. Ultimately SM is not really about technology but rather the people and organisations behind the technology, that’s the bit that many just don’t get. This post is on the money
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for the comments Sian. Glad to see you converted a Nay-Sayer as well
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks Niall. You are right – Social Media is all about the people networking. The technology is simply an enabler (isn’t it always). Appreciate the comment.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for the feedback Una. It is absolutely time to take it seriously. Those who don’t will lose – it’s that simple. I was talking about this post with daughter #2 (she will object to this I’m sure ) – and she said – “People are mad, where do they think my generation will be dealing with businesses – we’ll be doing it all on-line!”– the voice of the next purchasing generation.
Anonymous

It always interests me that people say it doesn’t work – especially after a few weeks. When you think back to how long it takes to develop other methods to promote and communicate products and services, the relatively huge cost involved, and the sheer inefficiency of many of the methods traditionally used, you realise just how conditioned and stuck some people have become. used well and consistently, social media is streets ahead, and it brings benefits across the board as well as in unexpected ways.
http://www.eightytwenty.ie/ Philip Macartney

Great post and eye catching title!! There is a great presentation called The Social Media Bonfire – http://www.slideshare.net/gamages/advertising-fireworks-social-bonfires – which gives a great perspective on where social media sits in the media mix. I have seen alot of the attitude you have described over the last two years and I now smile when I hear it and embrace the opportunity to change their minds!!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Great slideshow – love it. Thanks for putting that up.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Agree 100%. I like the comment you made about how it brings benefits in unexpected ways – so true!
http://www.salestipaday.com/ Chris Hamilton

Barney,

Great post. I totally agree with numerous aspects of the post, but the “We stopped after a few weeks, we weren’t making any headway” is a classic. I just left a company that was so bent on having the immediate results. Because the whole aspect of engaging in social media is foreign to a lot of the higher ups at the company that I was working at, they just assumed it was the “If you build it they will come”, except they forgot that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Patients is key and especially as you have eluded to, having a plan.

Chris Hamilton
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Chris. Thanks a million for the comment. The “you have it so they will come” thing is a definite problem and becomes very frustrating for those of us who know better! Cheers. Barney
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Hi Barney, Congrats! You made it to number 1 on the Bizsugar weekly top ten
http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

Hi Barney,

It’s always been the case that marketers have had to tentatively convince management etc of the next big thing to intereact with customers. That’s especially difficult when funds are low. But social media in my eyes is pure gold. Not only are you tapping into an incredible number of current and potentials, but you can interact with them directly and constantly. That’s before we mention the ‘no-cost’ tag.
It’s barmey to ignore, but if we’re honest its not the newness (if I can even say that now!) its the fear factor.
Will people engage with me? Will I know what to say? etc
It’s also the time issue. Blogging, chatting … its all time, and social media soesn’t nec bring in an instant convertion.
I sell it as the side-benefit or slow buy. Keep conversation ticking, keep the incentives rolling and wait ….
You’re building something that is the most valuable – loyalty.
http://www.internetmarketingnewyorkny.com/ Sherley Duncan

Great post. You are right about why some businesses think this way and why they should keep trying. It reminded me about why some businesses believe business networking doesn’t work. Social media marketing and businesses networking are about putting in the time to build relationships.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Sherley. Thanks for reading and the comment. You are quite right – it is all about the relationships that you build. Without business relationships – you wouldn’t have a business!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Christina. Thanks for the comment – agree with all you say. And glad you helped the topic with your latest Bloggertone post as well
http://nigelburke.com Nigel Burke

Business owners think they can create a blog (and not update it), sign up to Twitter (and not tweet anything valuable), setup a facebook fan page (and expect everyone to join the group). I can understand how business owners think that they are overwhelmed with work but it doesn’t take long to create a strategy and plan of action to get it working with a bit of time (12 months +). These same business owners are the ones who tell you how busy they are but never get anything done – because they are too busy putting out all the fires in the business because they are not running the business properly in the first place.

From my experience, I’ve been blogging for 7 months now and only just seeing results now with 60+ postings. My twitter is starting to get followers and I am now twittering valuable information (like this blog post).
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Nigel. You are absolutely correct. It takes time, effort and a-lot of patience. Fair play to you for sticking to your guns! Thanks for reading and best of luck with your blog!
http://blog.insideview.com/2010/05/02/investing-too-much-time-on-social-media-how-to-boost-your-roi Santosh Shukla

Hi Barney,

What you have mentioned is absolutely right and anyone venturing into social arena needs to beware!
However, the benefits are also boundless. I like to relate Social Media to Toruk (remember Avatar) that needs to be tamed.

I have also identified some actionable tips that help me gain the best of social media without wasting too much time. Try to use them.
http://blog.insideview.com/2010/05/02/investing-too-much-time-on-social-media-how-to-boost-your-roi
Anonymous

Yep, Social Media is no good for businesses who don’t have a well planned strategy for it. Here are a couple of things one should keep in mind:

# Whom an I targeting?
#Are my customers available on this platform?
#Are my prospects available on this platform?
#Can I get references to new leads through Social Media?
# Can my groups connect me to new networks?

If you can successfully answer these, you’ve got yourself a new avenue. I don’t proclaim that Social media is the new vantage point to “watch” your business grow. It’s simply a new platform. Just like the field of a soccer match to propose your girlfriend, or the entrance to that grand cricket match, which hosts the banner of a new upcoming Car model. If you understand where your target audiences are going, and what your customers are talking about, you could definitely do more focused advertising, and undoubtedly more focused selling.

Our sales team uses the social media (of course within our own app) to “hear” the voices, our customers use the same platform everyday to “track” their HOT accounts. Trust me, none of it is going to waste. One customer recently confessed to me “there’s so much good information here, wonder when I’m going to start making calls”. I kid you not.

I talk about some “good” strategies that my colleagues have adopted in closing larger deals in my blog post: http://blog.insideview.com/2010/04/27/connecting-the-dots-how-sales-2-0-can-help-you-connect-with-prospects/
Anonymous

Well, I don’t really agree to your ideas on how to save time while still being connected. One of your comments also mentioned that you have to be a lazy B** to be not able to keep efficient track of what you’re doing in your productive hours. If you spend too much time on “Social Media”, you’re probably not fit for that job anyway.

If you know where to draw a line, and if you have your objectives clear, you can do both (work and SM research) productively. Most of the masters in the field would tell you that no matter how you integrate Twitter, facebook, Blogs, etc in to oe place, once you get in to the loop of following the threads, you’ll never know whe your day ends.
http://www.filecabinetkey.net/bisley-file-cabinet Bisley File Cabinet

This is the great blog, I’m reading them for a while, thanks for the new posts!
http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

Hi Neil, nnA friend told me he tries to be there ‘before the fire starts’. In other words, he spends as much time with prospects before they are ready to buy and then, when things happen, he’s the one they usually turn to. nnRegards,nnIvannnn
http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

Hehehe Barney – Star Wars reigns supreme!nnThe DMU (decision making unit) can encompass a number of personnel for a business. Usually there’s a gatekeeper for that first contact, a financial member and a senior member (this person rules the roost and has the most sway). You can’t always meet the top guy, so you’ll have to impress as many as you can to reach them. Lets hope this person isn’t Mr D Vadar!nnOver-promising is an unethical practice I mentioned in a post last year http://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/2010/11/03/avoiding-bad-practices-part-two-ethics/ and a terrible technique, because you should never promise something which you cannot deliver. The company will expect you to make good on your promises. It puts undue pressure on your organisation.nnIf you have one key contact and they leave, you lose your relationship building, so it is advisable to extend your networking within a business for this reason. nnGreat read Barney. And remember; the force will be with you…!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Christina – you are quite right. You’ll rarely meet the top guy until the deal is almost done. Getting access to as many players as possible is the only solution to making sure you’re not left out in the cold.nThanks for adding your thoughts (and your obvious knowledge of Star Wars etiquette!)
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi NiallnnSome great pointers – thanks a million for taking the time out to add to the conversation. POint well made on making alliances outside the direct line of decision makers. This indeed can help. nnThanks for sharing.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for sharing that link Fred. That is a good article by Chris and worth a read.

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