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 Hello, :
Don't count on it. Let's discuss the difference between active and passive marketing, and I'd like to begin with a marketing strategy that has pretty much bitten the dust, but provides a great example: the snail mail marketing letter. Too many people ended these letters with "I look forward to hearing from you," "call if you need additional information" or a variation thereof. These are passive closes: nothing happens until the recipient takes action. You could be hanging by your toes until that happens. The other way to end a correspondence is some variation of, "I'll call you within the week to set up an appointment" or "I'll call you next week to confirm your receipt of this letter and answer any questions you may have." This is an active close, since you're taking the responsibility for moving the action forward. Unfortunately, passive closes are still very prevalent; and too few people make follow-up calls. If they do, they ask that moronic yes/no question, "Did you receive my letter/email?" instead of practicing open-ended questions before picking up the phone. "I trust you received our letter, and I'm calling to answer any questions you may have" is a good start. Good examples that get the conversation going are, "What experience do you have working with a management consultant?" "How long has it been since you've had your kitchen remodeled?" "What are you hoping to achieve with your Marketing Plan?" Open-ended questions get people talking. By the time you get through the second question, the conversation usually takes on a life of its own, provided you're a good listener. Then you're in the enviable position of marketing what they need, rather than what you have. With that preface, let's return to social media. Mostly passive. Photos, some videos, but lots of words. To their credit, the social media do elicit responses and make some headway in developing trust; but considering the huge number of posts, there aren't that many pieces of genuine education or calls for action. Far too few really know how to use the social media actively to their advantage. For this reason, relying on social media to be your only marketing strategy is risky. You need to combine this technological phenomenon with emotional marketing: face-to-face, voice-to-voice and education (think seminars, workshops, presentations - you get the idea). People will consider purchasing your products and/or services for one or all of three reasons: they have confidence in, they're comfortable with and they trust you. Meeting person-to-person, discussing how you can help each other (HCWHEO) - these encourage long-term relationships such as referring back and forth, building alliances. They're downright tricky through the social media. Sure, you may invite someone to coffee to schmooze; but posting requests for referrals is deemed overly commercial. By the way, if you deal with clients long-distance, there's a wonderful piece of equipment known as the telephone which at least offers the voice-to-voice advantage. Or, think Skype or ooVoo to see each other while communicating. When is the last time you presented a webinar to position yourself as The Expert? On another note, it's just poor marketing to rely on only one strategy. You need a Marketing Mix of two or three that are complementary. They'll support each other and ensure that your marketing works. Just remember that marketing doesn't have to be expensive. One of the reasons for the success of the social media is that they're free. Think about it, however: in marketing it's not what you spend; it's how you spend it (money, people and time). What are some of the low-cost, no-cost strategies you can employ, to make your social media posts all the more effective?
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