I thought it might be useful if I scratched the surface on the recent social media events I have attended, and demonstrate I was listening.
Before I start, let me be clear, I not am going to cover consumer activity.
Social media is evolving too quickly for me to summarise everything in a single blog, and there are many people closer to the evolution of consumer trends that have a better handle on its direction of travel.
So for now, B2B is what I do, and on the whole, all I have done, and I guess, God willing, is what I will always do.
Clear objectives
Nothing-new there then. Well really, is there? Every management, sales, operations, project management, tactical or strategic marketing book, every book that tells you how to change your life, get fit, loose weight, find a life partner, plan a holiday starts with some cliché like “if you don’t know where your heading, then how will you know if you’ve arrived there?”
Setting clear objectives was a common theme at all the events, as if the audience needed help with that little gem. But having said that, it wasn’t until I had actually passed my driving test and become comfortable with having car as a teenager I could really appreciate what I could achieve with my new freedom, and I think the same applied with any potentially disruptive technology. I think just getting a corporate Facebook of the ground is challenge enough, without complication it further by setting corporate objectives that you have no idea how to test their reasonableness.
When we launched the www.planningportal.gov.uk to English and Welsh local authorities in 2002, we established a tiered level of engagement into the contracts. We didn’t expect everyone to start integrating back office systems such as document and workflow systems from day one. We recognised that our users, while informed professionals, such as architects, surveyors or planners, they had to get comfortable with the new way of working and experience it from themselves before they would fully adopt it.
Taking this gradual approach has helped to create the most sustainable ecommerce site operated by the UK Government that has processed over 1 million planning applications since we launched it.
I call this approach test and learn; you may have heard it before. Instead of worrying about all that getting there business, it’s based on, let’s just get under way. As the Chinese say, “even a journey of ten thousand miles starts with a single step.” Or as Google say it 'launch early and iterate.'
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again
Social media’s role in business development, whether that is sales, service or marketing is augment what we already do.
The very best of business developers build contacts, join networks to find opportunities, use their network to source referrals, they keep in touch with contacts, share knowledge, listen to what’s going on, develop insight and update everyone on what’s new. Tell me Linked In, Twitter, Facebook and countless industry specific applications can't add to that to that process.
Every successful business developer maintains the records of their contacts and uses this data to network with new people and source referrals. They don’t have to use Linked In for this, but it helps to have a massive online managed rollardex with potentially every professional contact you’ll need being there. But more valuable still, all of their contacts are in the same place.
All very logical, but not so social.
The oldest adage in sales still holds true, people buy from people, and that’s where Twitter comes in. Combining the utilitarian nature of Linked In with the engaging nature of Twitter and we start to have a system. Yes, Twitter is fantastic for sharing your despair at what Joey has just said on The Only Way is Essex (#TOWIE) or telling everyone you had to have a bathroom break on the M4 for the third time, but this is how we signal our personality.
The minutiae of our lives, our jobs, our past times are we talk about most in shaping our relationships, especially those relationships that count. It is also a platform for sharing important milestones like guess who has bought a shed load of stuff from us or look at our shiny new thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment