Reaching the top of search results doesn't matter if people aren’t clicking on your links. (http://torreyrussell.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-you-need-to-be-on-facebook-and.html )
New data indicates not only are people clicking on Social Media site links more than on search engines but the reason consumers are doing this is because being more “connected” is why we are all here.
Social media is about engagement. If you aren’t ready to figure out how to engage using these new tools you are missing one of the most important ways to get consumers to open their wallets to your pitch, become an advocate and do your marketing for you.
Being connected is a primal drive coming from our earliest development of motivation according to Brene Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Being accepted by the group, being a thought leader, being heard are all a part of this motivation. While there are many different types of people, they all desire to be connected in their way.
Brene Brown asks, “How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness?” This, according to the author of “The power of vulnerability” is the core to a successful Social Media strategy. That being authentic or Vulnerable provides others a way to feel they can engage and connect more deeply and more often.
Tough stuff for an Auto Dealer or a Real Estate Broker. Without sounding like a session on Orpah, we as purveyors of goods and services need to reach into our own heart centered space and deliver an authentic and believable value for our customers to buy it. This is the reality of today’s market when the consumer has more choices than they know what to do with.
Let’s deconstruct this problem. You could easily separate consumers into functional groups to create a profile of that group and then address them in a way they will find appropriate and authentic. For example if you were to create several profiles around the way certain groups engage you might break it down as follows: Streakers, Strollers and Studiers. Each of these profiles engages in different ways. Core to the end result is to turn prospects from, “I don’t know you to I can’t live without you”. You also have to run a business, so it is important to quickly create a way to build commonality among groups so you can connect to a group quickly and authentically with the bottom line in mind.
But lets stand back a little bit and realize that the person who is at the other end of your Facebook account trying to engage you is willing to be vulnerable, trying to get an authentic answer to their search. After all they clicked on your search result… now you have to perform. You have to return the favor by being authentic and appreciative of this risk taking behavior by a prospective buyer or a customer looking for more ways to stay connected to something they already paid for.
I wanted to start this dialog for you within your own organization, what resources should you be putting toward Social Media and what value (Executive level commitment) do you plan to apply to win this game. How many [your brand here] dealers are within 20 miles of your auto dealership… how many Real Estate Agents are there in your MLS? Answer: Too many! Some are getting this right. How about your business?
Watch this great 20 minute video from Brene Brown at a recent TED.com conference on The power of vulnerability. (OK, shut your door, turn your cell phone off, close your email.... try and focus on why this concept will become the most important way for you to build your business in 2011)
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
Develop your plan to answer the phone authentically, create a social persona that is accepted as the authority on the subject and figure out how to do this in such a way as to get a greater “share of wallet” from your current customers and to get them to bring you more business from their contacts. Solid social connections start by being vulnerable to failure and 100% transparently authentic when being engaged.
