Why Use Social Media?

Besides answering the “What and How” of social media many business leaders are still at the fundamental stage of asking Why?. This very questions begs another question. Have you been paying attention to the marketplace?

OK, so they say yes then they say it seems everywhere I turn I am hearing about social media but I still have the need to understand why are businesses using it and why is it creating so much attention. The answer to why is related to “how and what” a business does to engage in market relations with the aim of creating an opportunity for a transaction. Why do businesses exist? Primarily to create value, attract a market who wants the value and engage the market in transaction. However, the “how” of doing this has changed from “push marketing” to “pull marketing” via relevant and relative conversations that attract the market you seek to you.

Why And What Others Will Tell & Sell You

There are a lot of people tagging themselves as social media experts, gurus and “certified specialist”.  Most people saying so are individuals and organizations who offer “basic skill sets and copy methodologies” which in the end will get you lots of the wrong connections, lots of the wrong followers as well as a bad reputation in the marketplace of conversations.

If you think about the real reason “why” you really need to engage in social media it boils down to forming the right relations and doing so the right way. Social media isn’t effective if you use it to simply “collect” people so you have large numbers. Collecting connections and followers is a numbers game and it is very easy to do so. However just collecting people doesn’t mean your creating valuable relations that are relative and relevant to your business. Just “collecting people” means you’re likely to end up with a lot of spam mail filling up you social networking accounts or spamming your blog post. Do you outsource your conversations? Unlikely and highly questionable so why would you hire a social media expert to do that for you?

The Real Reasons Why To Use Social Media

There are dozens of reason why but we’ll keep it to the top ten.These are:

1. You will find whomever you want to do business with somewhere online
2. You will find whatever knowledge you need about any market or any person online
3. You can reach your market by simply engaging in the right conversations with the right people. This is more effective than advertising.
4. If your business can’t be found, isn’t engaging with the market or worse yet ignoring the market you are not likely to be creating transactional opportunities while your competition does.
5. Communications is a system to leverage your organizations ability to communicate with your market. Social media is the new communications system.
6. Social media saves time and money if you use it right for the right things
7. If you learn “how” to use social media correctly then you’ll understand “what” your market is looking for and “where” they are looking. You’d want them to look for you.
8. “When” your customers and prospects are engaging about you, your industry or your products and services you need to be there listening. Otherwise how will you gain the necessary market intelligence, be enabled to respond or even be aware of problems or needs. If you are not present when and where the conversations are occurring you are basically out of touch with your market.
9. Communications is about reach. Communicating is about relational dynamics between people. Social media provides the means to effectively communicate with your market. However communicating in human rather than institutional terms.
10. If you are not communicating (listening first, initiating second) then how in the world do you expect to create relationship with people and businesses that may want the value you offer?

When people need or want something in the old days they’d look up information in the yellow pages. Today people turn to search engines to find what they want or need. Each day on average Google gets used 235 million times.

When people are looking to purchase something they want and need more and more they are going on line to find out what other people think or say about a product, service or brand. The relevancy that influences people’s buying behavior  is other people’s conversation, including yours. That is if they can find your conversation and if it provides value people are looking for.

To sum up: For many, the Web isn’t a place to look for information, it’s the only place.

Now do you know why?

Tagged as: blog marketing, brand marketing, business change, business disruption, business transformation, Conversational Currency, conversational marketing, innovation economy, jay deragon, Relationship Economy, social capital, Social Media, social media roi, social technology