Social Media & Social Networking: BUZZ or NOISE

I recently had a discussion with a Sales & Marketing Executive that inspired both thoughts and questions… Are you part of the BUZZ, or just more NOISE?

We exchanged information on LinkedIn regarding email campaigns.  I admit, I did a number of them years ago.  I’m not sure if I did them because they had me feel as though I was prospecting thereby easing guilt about building my pipeline or what, but rarely did they work if it was a “cold” email.  I had some luck referral-based  email campaigns, especially back in the days when emails were accepted as being sent by a trusted source with the best of intentions;  much of that has changed.  Each day I receive an email regarding 1M, 5M, or 10M dollars someone has left me or is funneling my way from some country where I know no-one.  I never knew so many people cared about my financial well being.

Email, when “cold” is just considered NOISE!  Go DIGITAL GREEN with me and save a virtual tree by not using email to attempt to engage a new prospect.  Here’s why they do very little to help drive potential sales.

1. Too much junk. We receive so many that in order to clean the inbox we them as quick as possible. We may only look at the name or the subject line & DEL.
2. Statistically improbable. Receiving a response from “cold” emails requires that we send it to just the right person, at just the right time, while they have just the right need, etc…  Need I provide you the statistical probabilities of this happening?
3. Active polling; not prospecting. Typically emails target “active” opportunities where the seller has a low probability of winning anyway.  Even if we are lucky enough to beat the statistics referred to in #2, “why should they respond to someone they don’t yet know or trust”, as my friend Tom Freese always says…

It seems that everyone is in the BUZZ on Social Media and Social Networking however very few truly use it successfully.  So that it does not end up being just a waste of time and energy one must have a strategy & process for how to use it.  I have conversations each day with someone who is thinking about or has tried to use it only to find it either too frustrating or difficult to manage.  So why should they invest the time.

Here are a few reasons for an enterprise to invest time and effort.  The same is applicable for an individual however my focus is on driving business for the enterprise:

1. It allows a company/person to position thought leadership in the market.
2. It creates a virally spread one-on-many bi-directional conversation; that’s saying quite a bit in one sentence.  Bottom-line, persons interested can comment on your blog, tweet, etc… to develop more buzz or to create a one on one interaction.
3. It helps keep your website fresh and potentially raises rankings in search engines if you develop an integrated strategy.
4. It helps you to determine the real interest of your market and allows for statistical tracking of what’s BUZZ and what’s NOISE…
5. It serves as an alignment vehicle for the company by allowing employees (sales, marketing, customer service, & others) to hear and understand positioning and issues that are relevant to company direction and strategy.

I could continue writing for days on the inherent benefits to investing time and effort.  Check out the video below.  If for no other reason, you need to do this because the world is listening through these channels, you just need to find a way to have them tune in…

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Vaughn Rachal is President of SalesFX, Inc.