If you’re asking yourself, “what can social media do for my business?” I’m sorry to say you’re already headed down the wrong path. Of course businesses need to justify expenses in spending time and money on Facebook pages, Linkedin profiles and social media plans, but the mindset required for success in the social sphere is far different than that required for a traditional marketing plan and I’m afraid a lot of companies are missing out on an opportunity to provide value.

Potential customer are drawn to your ad campaigns because you as a brand have effectively interrupted their lives with a compelling message, a piece of communication that resonated with a specific need that was worth their taking the time to notice. These same potential customers are drawn to social tools and profiles for a very different reason – utility. If a prospect can’t use the information you’ve provided to better their lives, they won’t engage with any aspect of your social presence. I cover this a bit in the previous post.

I can sum up the conventional wisdom surrounding social media in this post by Sasha Perez. In short, Mr. Perez fails to see the value of Facebook other than as a way to connect with people he already knows. What Mr. Perez is missing is the opportunity to give something away to help those whom he wishes to attract as friends or fans.

Think of it, if you use styling gel for your hair, why would you go to a styling gel Facebook page? Let’s look at two scenarios. Styling profile A is build like a typical Facebook page. Now, would you visit Page A in order to watch testimonials about how much other people love this particular hair gel or to find out information about what goes into the gel manufacturing process? I’d guess no.

Styling profile B is built differently. This Facebook page is a reservoir of fashion information. What if you could directly interact with styling experts through the page with questions or watch videos on new styling techniques? You could supplement this page by starting discussions around which stars’ hair represents the new wave of upcoming styles among other discussions. All throughout, the people participating know it’s your page and you can help guide the conversations through sporadic comments and by starting new discussion threads surrounding your product from time to time.

The difference is that page A is build to convey information. Page B is build to foster discussion by giving people appropriate information and tools with relevance to their lives.

In short, the best way to get people engaged in your social media efforts is to design your plan to serve your customers first and your marketing goals second.

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