Social Marketing is Relationship Selling

May 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Social Marketing Process ©Jeff Korhan


The Social Marketing Process ©Jeff Korhan

Mainstream small business will more reliably get better results from social media if they view it more as selling than marketing. Why?

Because effective relationship selling is personal, and now marketing is too. As social influences continue to profoundly affect business, just about every business activity is going to require relationship building skills.

Traditional marketing or advertising was something you did – to your communities. Whereas, social marketing in our digital environment is something we do – with our communities. That feels a lot like selling to me.

So, an important question is what aspects of your selling process reliably bring in new business? Then consider how you can make that more personal, and as a result, more relevant to today’s buyer.

Adapt to Today’s Buyer

The common expression, “What got you here won’t get you there” – is mostly untrue.

The truth is: It will. All you have to do is know your strengths and learn to ensure their relevancy for the inevitable changes in the business environment.

When I was launching my residential landscape business in the late 80′s I used a practice to educate my communities. That practice – known today as content marketing - was my primary means for generating leads (with referrals from happy customers being the other source of new business).

My only challenge in adapting what worked well was translating from a print to this digital platform where my future customers are likely to be found.

So, how did your business build relationships with new buyers? Give that some thought, because your growth practices are still valid, especially if you figure out how to adapt them to the new habits of your buyers.

For example, if your business growth is the result of efficient production methods that speak for themselves, then that is a vital selling factor that you should continue to use. Now you can easily amplify that using videos to reach buyers where they are – which today is usually online.

A Valid Process is Your Guidance System

Your sales process is more than a series of steps. It is a guidance system that makes everyone aware of what should be happening, and how to get it back on track if it isn’t.

Whether they acknowledge it or not, most people admire what is reliable. This is why having having a valid process that keeps your you and your sales team focused on the right variables is something that gives your buyers confidence in working with your company.

Learn to use your sales process to differentiate your business. The majority of companies are busy selling their products and services. As a result, it all sounds the same to the buyer, because they are all  focused on what they do – products and services.

Whereas, the business that focuses on how they do it better is the one that will earn the attention of today’s buyer. And that is accomplished by first selling your process – then your products.

Isn’t this what Zappos does? They are selling the same shoes as every other merchant, but the process for acquiring those shoes is what made their business the market leader.

It’s all about considering how buyers would buy if they could – and then giving them that process.

The bottom line is a valid process builds trust, and that makes it essential for your social marketing AND relationship selling.

Want to learn more about refining your sales process and using it to differentiate your business? It’s covered in detail in Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business.

When you learn to build a process for your social marketing that is based on basic relationship selling practices, you will never look back – because you will be forever focused on the two things that matter most:

  1. Your business strengths
  2. How your customers ideally want to buy

What are your thoughts? Please share them in a comment.

About the Author:  Jeff Korhan, MBA, helps mainstream small businesses create exceptional customer experiences that accelerate business growth. Get more from Jeff on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.

Jeff is also the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business – Just Released April 2013 (Wiley)

Social Media is Still Uncharted Waters

May 10, 2013 by 4 Comments

2013.5.10 Uncharted Waters

When you are embarking on a journey whose destination is uncertain, you have to get comfortable with uncertainty.

When it comes to social media, uncertainty has been, and for the foreseeable future, will necessarily be part of its use in your marketing equation.

These are uncharted waters. Everyone is still learning.

So, small businesses simply need to first get their feet wet, after which they will find their way if they follow a proven process, such as the one outlined in Built-In Social.

What I’m Hearing

Now that social media hype is beginning to fizzle, the truth is coming out from many social media agencies and practitioners – this is just getting started.

So, if you are still challenged with getting results from your social media marketing, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone.

What is interesting is the practice of content marketing is beginning to go mainstream.

While they may not necessarily use the term content marketing, even regular small businesses are becoming aware that social media is fairly useless without well-planned content marketing driving it.

Of course, content marketing has been around a long time in the form of advertorials and the like, it has just taken awhile for it to be linked to effective social marketing.

The challenge, of course, is actually doing the work to put it into practice.

What Is The One Thing to Do?

Last week I worked with a small business – a very small one at that. However, the owner possesses both the technical and creative skills to make this work, he has simply not yet put rubber to the road.

So, his obvious question was what is the one thing he should be doing now.

Every business is unique, so it requires some study to determine if a blog, email newsletter, or a specific social network would be the best place to initially focus. Yes, I consider all of these to be “social media” because being digital, they all have the ability to integrate with social media (and each other) in some way.

More important than the channel, is the practice:

1. Create relevant content to be attractive

Experienced businesses, and even those with just a few years of experience, know what their customers want. It’s really a matter of learning what the pain points are and solving those problems.

Content that solves problems will always be attractive, which means your business has to get into the answers business to do the same.

2. Use consistency to establish expectations

When it comes to marketing, and really anything else in business, those doing one or two things well lead their industries, or at least they do in their local communities.

3. Learn better practices and trends

In addition to studying the better practices in your industry, you should be learning how to adapt to what is working in others.

Trends often surface first in other industries, and you will look like a genius by simply being the first to adapt it to yours. This is especially true when it comes to social media.

When the waters are uncharted and the future is uncertain, it is a risky strategy to be the first or the best, because you just don’t know what is around the corner that will bring it all down.

Instead, take a disciplined approach to establish your course to build relationships and earn the trust of your customers.  If you do that, the uncertainties you may encounter are easily managed.

How about you? How are you positioning your business for the uncertain future of social media marketing?

About the Author:  Jeff Korhan, MBA, helps mainstream small businesses create exceptional customer experiences that accelerate business growth. Get more from Jeff on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.

Jeff is also the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business – Just Released April 2013 (Wiley)

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