EXPO 2017. Donington Park, Thursday 16th February 9am - 3pm

Social Media & Networking: What’s most effective where, and why?

By Kevin Hudson

You’ll be reading this expecting me to talk about networking and the various social media, right? You’ll be expecting me to tell you when/where/why using Twitter is most effective, right? Or at what point in the sales cycle Facebook is most effective? Well, you see, that would be wrong of me, because there’s a much more important lesson to deliver on this topic. Here goes…

The most effective tool to use in any business situation, including networking and social networking, is the tool of caring…at every stage of the customer lifecycle. Business success is built on awareness, authority and trust (in that order). In a world of increasing noise, none of these can be built without you caring more about your customers (as humans with needs and wants), than you do about their money.

“In a free market with plenty of information, it’s very hard to succeed merely by loving the money your customers pay you.” – Seth Godin.

Social media and networking are “arenas of transparency”, where tricksmen and salesmen are easily found out and ignored. Instead, both arenas are most effective when used to build authority and trust with your customers in two ways:

  1. Being Informative (useful)
  2. Being Entertaining (remarkable)

Social media and networking are most effective when used to design and deliver information and entertainment, thus creating useful and/or remarkable experiences for customers and prospects as human beings…. rather than means to an end.

Caring + information/entertainment = awareness, authority & trust = sales

The power of caring is the most effective tool you have to unleash in both arenas, at every stage of the customer lifecycle, because it’s the very thing that every consumer craves. The beauty of it is that “caring” is in short supply (self promotion, hard selling and advertising aren’t). The opportunity for you lies in the rule of scarcity: scarcity creates value. Living the rule of caring in social media and networking is the most effective thing you can do, because it’s so scarce.

*Deciding which social media to use or which networking group to use is an easier (and more effective) decision to make once you’ve spent a few weeks unleashing the tool of caring. The question to ask is this: Where is my/our caring appreciated the most, and what are we doing that gains the best ROI? That’s the answer you’ve been looking for.

For more (un-usual) thoughts and advice on social media, consider subscribing to my blog: www.kevinphudson.com

 

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