What is Social Media Marketing?

Or, What I Learned at the SocialFresh Conference in Charlotte, August 2009.

You walk into a big room full of people. Most of them are happily chatting away in small groups. Obviously they know each other, and have plenty to talk about – but YOU don’t know anybody in the room.

Don’t you wish that somebody would walk up to you with a smile, and say…

“Hi! I’m Tom Ringmaster and I noticed when you came in.

Know anybody here? No? Well, let me show you around.

There’s some great appetizers over there – go help yourself anytime. We’ve also got a full-service wine bar over here. It’s not free, but we’ve got all sorts of new wines lined up if you’re interested. You can taste as many of them as you like before deciding which one to order.

What’s your name? Fiona – hey, that’s cool – Scottish – right? What do you do? You’re a wine taster? Great! You should really come on over here and talk to Sally and Joe. They’re wine importers and I”m sure they’d love to talk to you.

Hey Sally – Joe – meet Fiona here.  She’s a wine taster from Scotland. I just finished telling her about the fantastic new Rosé from the south of France you got your hands on.”

“Hi  Sally, Hi Joe, pleased to meet you! Name’s Fiona. Yep, believe it or not I’m a wine taster from Scotland. I saw a sign outside about some kind of wine bar & tasting event, so I decided to just wander in. I don’t know anybody here yet.”

“Oh Fiona, you really need to try this new French Rosé. Once you’ve tried it you’ll never drink American again. Let’s head on over to the wine bar and do some tasting, and let me know what you think.

Joe & I are importers – we don’t sell direct, but Tom thought this stuff was so good he’s already bought 20 cases from us. And he’s selling it at a great price.”

“Wow – this is the best Rosé I’ve ever tasted! Thanks Sally!”

“Well, if you decide you want a few bottles, definitely contact Tom Ringmaster – he only stocks the best, and just between you and me, he doesn’t jack up the prices like some places do. Plus he can ship it anywhere for you – guaranteed to arrive in one piece or your money back. We really like doing business with Tom, we can’t recommend him highly enough. Here’s his contact info if you need it.

Here’s our contact info too, in case you’re interested in something that Tom doesn’t carry.”

“Thanks Joe, thanks Sally! I’ll definitely be doing my wine buying from Tom Ringmaster from now on! What else is here at the wine bar you’d recommend?”

Now that was social media marketing! Now – how does this work online?

All you need to do is think of your site, or blog, or Facebook page, as being just like that room. And think of yourself, or your organization, as Mr. Ringmaster.

A web site or blog is not an empty room waiting to be filled up with furniture and the latest in interesting décor.

It is waiting to be filled with people interested in your stuff – customers, and  people who know other people of the same interests, and recommendations!

If your site or blog is not inviting – welcoming- helping newcomers find their way around and find what they want – then no amount of SEO or advertising is going to help you in the long run.

Now here’s a different scenario.

You walk into an event, all by your lonesome and you don’t know anybody there. You’re sure you’re all there for the same reason, and you’ve probably got similar interests and things to talk about. But you’re too shy to butt in on somebody else’s conversation.

Nobody welcomes you at the door. The room is crowded and hard to navigate your way through. There’s a table of free appetizers but they’re all gone by now – too bad – you were starving when you came in. There’s a long wine bar with all sorts of enticing items to try & buy – but the bartender is busy talking to the manager about getting some more appetizers in here. The bartender gives you a wave to indicate he’ll be ‘right with you’. But the discussion with the manager goes on a while…

So you decide to leave.

And you’re never coming back. Or going to recommend it to friends. In fact, you might even post your disappointing experience online.

I hope that business owners who are looking for answers about Social Media have found this helpful.

I also want you to know that the SocialFresh Charlotte event, all its sponsors, speakers, volunteers and participants were absolutely incredible.

If you want to know more about Social Media – what it is – whether it’s for you – and find some great people to follow and listen to, then go to www.socialfresh.com for all the details. Follow them on Twitter @sofresh