Archive for June, 2009

How Dwight Schrute Uses Social Media

Posted by Will in Rules of Engagement on June 18th, 2009

Would you buy from this man at a party?

Would you buy from this man at a party?

When companies struggle with how to leverage social media to help sell more widgets it’s because social media is meant to be social – not a market to sell more widgets. Selling in social media channels is the equivalent of setting up a display table at a friend’s cocktail party. Do you remember the episode of The Office when Dwight spends an entire Valentine’s Day party trying to sell paper to a prospective single? He didn’t get the sale.

Don’t sell. Don’t try smiling, acting friendly and then selling. Just be social. Be the life of the party. Tell great stories, introduce people to each other, listen, ask people how they are doing today and listen to their answers. At the end of the day, you will leave people (your customers) chatting about how damn cool you are straight through until the next cocktail party (where you will once again be unimaginably charming).

People will undoubtedly like you, but will you sell more widgets? That’s the hard part – the bottom line brainteaser. Clear your mind and think about it. What do you think?

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Why Best Buy Uses Social Media

Posted by Will in Benefits on June 5th, 2009

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post (below), Best Buy CMO Barry Judge offers some of the more compelling reasons why an organization would choose to use social media.

Our Key Takeaways:
“Transparency is one of the most powerful societal trends that is coming our way.”

“The brands that figure this out. The brands that are on this. I think are the brands that will succeed in the future.”

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To Be or Not To Be (on Social Media)

Posted by Will in Benefits on June 4th, 2009

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Don't Overthink This One

Amidst the enormous amount of hype surrounding facebook and twitter, many organizations still wonder whether using social media makes sense for their goals. We get it. From the most practical perspectives, social media might seem more like a distraction than an aide. The fact is, if you want your business, non-profit, alumni-base, etc. to grow in the future, you need to embrace social media now while it still is mainly twitter and facebook.

Yesterday, The New York Times ran an article examining the tentative steps many small businesses are taking toward social media marketing. It reported that approximately 260,000 small businesses are already on social media and 51 percent believe they acquired or retained customers as a result of their social media outreach. What will happen to the other small businesses who aren’t adopting social media into their marketing strategies? Rob King, VP of Strategic Marketing at Sage North America puts it bluntly: “I hate to say it, but if they don’t, they’ll get left in the dust.”

Rob might be overstating the situation. Does the nail salon down the street really need to be on social media? Maybe. Given the fact that it’s free and quickly becoming a dominant source of information, I think a better question is why shouldn’t your organization use it? That’s a much more challenging one to answer. Feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think.

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