Power Of Social Media

June 4, 2012

Interview with Lon Safko, author of the book The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success

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Mike Carruthers:
So many people use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter that companies can no longer avoid using them as part of their marketing.

Lon Safko:
Really the short answer is you have to be where your customers and prospects are looking for you and that’s where they’re looking for you.
 

Lon Safko, author of The Social Media Bible and the up and coming book The Fusion Marketing Bible, says having a commercial presence on Facebook, for example, can be tricky.

The number 1 thing is never, never, never; ever sell on a social network site, not on Twitter not on Facebook. The appropriate behavior is to be there to have a conversation, to make friends, to build a relationship.

However many companies take the attitude that if you can’t sell what’s the point?

If you are there, if you’re building a relationship, if you’re having a conversation when your customers and prospects are ready to buy they’re going to come to you first.

Social media is evolving, says Lon, and will soon become a standard marketing practice.

A lot of times I’ll walk into a Fortune 500 company and they introduce me to the Vice President of social media marketing and then I instantly say, “Before I leave would you introduce me to your Vice President of billboards.” And they look at me like what? Well in a couple of years there will be no distinction between social media and traditional media. The smart companies are going to take the 2 of these and put them into 1 comprehensive tool set and the companies that get that first are the ones that are going to be the most successful.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here.