"Now that every business in the world has a twitter account, a facebook page, a myspace page, a blog, and so on, does "selling" through social networks even work any more?"
Thanks for your question. I must say, it’s one that I get quite a bit. My usual answer? “I don’t know.”
I’m joking.
Sort of.
One of the things I like best about Berrett-Koehler is our dedication to the mission, Creating A World that Works for All. My job, as Digital Community Builder, is to advance that mission through the use of social media and its emerging technologies. As such, I mark our success on social networks like those you mentioned not by sales, but by the numbers of people we’ve reached, introduced to our titles, and connected to one another.
And this works. We now have over 500 Facebook fans, nearly 600 Twitter followers, and countless visitors to our author blogs, all of whom are spreading the word about BK and our books.
It’s not about the sales, it’s about creating authentic and honest conversations and communities. Do that and the sales follow (as they have for us).
Thanks!
Bonnie Kaufman, Digital Community Builder
Your analysis of how to used social media properly and effectively is correct. The true value of social media is in building the relationship first. If a sales or marketing message is offered in advance of the relationship, it will be ignored and become counter-productive and even be considered spam. On the other hand, people when a relationship is established through engagement, sales will follow naturally.
ReplyDeletePeople do business with people who they know, like, and trust. Developing a relationship prior to sale time creates that trust. That is the true power of social media.