Social Media vs. Business Media
It’s unfortunate in some ways that the term “social media” has so firmly taken root. While there’s nothing wrong with building social relationships, there’s a clear difference between social interaction and business.
If I told you that my business plan consisted of going to the local pub every day, having a few beers, and shooting pool, you probably would not have much confidence in that plan. I could argue, “It’s not about selling. It’s about building relationships.” People seem to approach “social media” the same way. To anyone in that category, I have to ask the following question: are you in business to make money or make friends? If you’re in business just to make friends, I say you’re not in business at all.
If you have no plan for monetizing your social media efforts, and you have no way to track the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of that plan over time, then you’re not using social media for business. You’re just using it in a purely social way. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with this. However, I will say that it would benefit you to know which category you fall into.
What does a social media business plan look like? Compare it to a traditional sales plan. When I sold kitchen knives in 2002, it was spelled out for us very clearly. The ideal sale was a set of knives. The company had sets priced anywhere from $200 to $2,000. The company average closing ratio was 65%. We were trained on how to set goals every week and work the numbers to figure out what we had to do in order to accomplish those goals. For every X number of times we dialed the phone, 1 person would answer. For every X number of people we talked to, 1 would set an appointment. For every X number of appointments, we’d get 1 sale. The company average sale was X dollars (I don’t remember the actual number any more). The bottom line: based on the averages, we had to figure out how many times we needed to dial the phone in order to produce the number of needed sales to meet our goals.
A social media plan doesn’t involve dialing the phone necessarily, but it should ideally include a daily set of activities and expected results.
Do you use social media for business or just for fun?
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