Managing Social Messaging to Profit

Allow me to be controversial and “go for the jugular” and hit the heart of this article first off: “What you don’t manage CAN hurt you!” Furthermore, there are countless sales, educational, and reputation management opportunities in social media. Please, my business friends, understand this word picture: social media is like a hammer - you can tear something down or build with it BUT that genie is NOT going "back in the bottle!”

I have seen first hand the power of social media with my activities and podcasts. It is actually an exciting business playground that every business needs to access and utilize to profit. The fundamentals of proper social media can be applied across the board but for the sake of this article I’ll point them toward an old social standard: Facebook. 

Many activities that affect independent businesses occur on Meta’s Facebook. Meta allows for some impressive targeting and retargeting. Some old school business owners shy away from it, perceiving it to be a real pain in the ass… and if unmanaged it can be. It can also be a boon and that is what it should be. Like a pneumatic hammer, powered by compressed air, you can build faster and stronger than by hand. Hammers can be used to build or tear something down; social media is no different. It has a reach and scope that should be taken seriously by business owners. Heck, even if you personally don’t like it, there needs to be someone in your organization accessing its power. The lead generation professionals here at Direct Success Digital have created literally millions of targeted leads using Facebook and a good number using Instagram, and know the power of its audience intelligence first hand. This article is about nefarious and uneducated posts and how to turn a decent portion of them into positives.

I concede that there are evil posts that simply need to come down. Some opinions and relationships are contaminated beyond repair. Common sense will dictate that. Most often, "onliners" (did I just make up a new word?) are uneducated to any depth about what you sell, or are trying to cash in on your ad dollars and sell their own something. Since the overwhelming majority of our clients are in the piano luxury market space, I’ll use the piano industry with my examples:

If a person posts a negative comment like:

“I have no idea why anyone would pay thousands of dollars for a piano! I have one up against the wall here that I think stills plays that someone can have for free if they will just come and get it! These piano stores charge SO much for those things.” - posted by Bill Mealymouth

The easy thing would be to take it down and NOT allow it to inspire more negative comments, but I heartily disagree. Bill has some issues and misconceptions that can be leveraged to paint the picture of who you truly are, a business doing a good job of helping consumers find what they need at a fair price. Whoever is in charge of babysitting the social activities should respond in such a manner-

“Bill, this is Sarah from Prestige Pianos. I wanted to respond in a respectful way about the ads we place to help us find people who we can match with the perfect piano inside their budget. You may not  be aware of the joy and health playing the piano can give a person but we always try to fit people properly. What type of piano do you have? There have been SO many different ones made over the years!”

These responses can be boilerplate discussion starters. After honest dialogue begins, often lovers of what you sell will join in and be in agreement with your talking points. Here is another response to negative price comments:

“Bill, this is Sarah from Prestige Pianos. It sounds like you believe that all pianos are worth the same amount of money: not much or nothing. The ads we place to help us make a modest living are to help people find the right piano for them inside whatever budget they have. Your piano may actually be someone's dream come true for a very reasonable price. Sometimes children need an inexpensive piano to get started on. May I ask you a couple of questions about your piano?”

The posture of being non-confrontational, friendly and educational can turn a string into a great reputation management opportunity and who knows how many music lovers Bill has in his social circle. If he isn’t a music lover himself, he might not even know how many of his contacts are.

These are just a few examples. My goal is to get you to think about reputation protection AND advancement. To consider what you can build using social media as a mouthpiece for good. Let’s be real here, regardless of your political affiliation, social media has proven to be effective in messaging and influencing people. You need to use it.

I’ll end as I do with a pertinent story -  

In 2013 I knew what I didn’t know but WHAT I DID KNOW was that lead generation and effective online marketing was what my clients needed, so I went to the bookstore to shop. In 2013 I was staring at walls of sales and marketing books and “try as I may” to find one, that’s all I found, one, one book on lead generation. Wait for it… the title? “Lead Generation for Dummies” 

Now that is a bit humorous because back then I was naive to the “ins and outs” of  lead gen but if you have ever read any of the “for Dummies” series, they are written by experts and fundamentally sound. After a few chapters, my business partner at the time was impressed with my new knowledge, and he was fresh out of college. My point? The world has changed so much that now the shelves are full of them, and books on social media. Remember: The only constant is change.” Sales and marketing folks must adapt to the new tools in the tool box or face extinction. Harsh but true.

If you don’t know plumbing, sometimes you just need a plumber. If you don’t like or enjoy social media, that can be your personal choice, but not your business choice. It is important in today’s business landscape, and in newer versions will be in tomorrow's. Get someone to harness the power and add or to your  company's credibility. It is where people go for information and you need to be in control of the narrative as it pertains to your company and your place in the marketplace.

In summary and to reiterate it - what you don’t manage CAN hurt you. Your business deserves the positive influence it can benefit from by posting happy customers and magic moments. Now get to work and post some cool stuff about who your company is and how they make lives better! 

One of the authors of that first book on lead generation I read (Lead Generation for Dummies) was Guy Kawasaki. “The Art of Social Media” is a foundational “must read.” I am a proponent of learning about it even if you are going to delegate it. You can’t manage something you are totally unfamiliar with. 

Hey, it’s here! You better join the party, you’re late to it already!

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but the stories you tell”- Graffiti9

A more catchy and memorable version would be -

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff you sell, but the stories you tell”