Does social marketing really work?

Thanks!

edit - deleting the nonsense i just wrote

Example cases:

I set myself up a facebook page for my business and update it with content relevant to my field. So far it has generated several contracts through a web-design house that spotted me via the updates of a mutual contact, and one direct to client contract that began when one of the directors of the client company, who is married to a 'facebook friend' of my other half, noticed that I provide a service that they were currently looking into outsourcing. I advised a friend to do the same. He's a chippie. He's also found a similar results.

I tweet an awful lot about industry relevant stuff and personal stuff too. I have 'PHP' in my username. I generate plenty of enquiries along the lines of 'So you do PHP then? I saw you having a conversation on twitter' with one of my contacts so thought I'd give you a call to see if we can work together' - plenty of these have turned into actual paid work.

Even if you doubt the possible value of just being active in these networks, as far as I can see, there is very real value in being exposed to 'contacts of contacts' and expanding your network that way. But it involves being active, posting relevant content and actually engaging people in two-way conversations rather than just going through the motions.

We find that social networking, particulalry Twitter, works very well for us. We enjoy multiple enquiries from it each week, and only last Friday secured a very large chunk of work from a client who found us there.

It's a bit like these forums - you'll work your socks off initially to build momentum - and then one day everything will just click and you'll start to see the benefits.

So, do realise that the initial stages are going to be slow - but every moment isn't wasted as you're building up a targeted followers list and starting to establish yourself as someone who contributes value.

Still - it is true that a lot of people don't have the time or wish to build up slowly - we offer 100% managed Twitter accounts as a product and enjoy great success with them as clients don't need to worry and leave the work to us!

There's lots of information out there about Twitter, and it's certainly something to think about.

suggest you get back to your server room and get on with your job

for me social media is a bit of fun - if it brings business then great, if it doesn't then so be it - its a great way of building on and establishing new relationships - and so really is just an extension of offline networking imo

bang on the money

Using my phone and Uber twitter, which updates my facebook I put comments about me, my life and what I am doing at work. I put things on like lists of my current vacancies and "I am currently looking for xxxxx are oyu or anybody you know interested in this type of career?".

So far it has generated me knew candidates who are forward for interview with my clients. It also helps drive traffice to our website, as I often get comments like "I've seen the xxxx job on your website and am interested to find out more".

So yes it does work....plus I can see what my friends,family,clients, candidates and celebs I follow are upto. ]

Remember it's not what you know, it's who you know! Just another form of networking, which essentially costs nothing but 30 sec here and there.

Like all types of networking, you get out what you put in and it needs to be relevant.

Don't expect things to work instantly, you need to build up a relationship with people.

I am a regular on UK Business Forums since 2008. My first year, I got no enquiries about our call answering services. However, starting in early 2009 we were getting one or two a month from UKBF members - many of whom have since become clients.

If you are regularly "tweeting" make sure it is business-focused and things that potential customers are going to be interested in reading. I can't understand those businesses who put up things like "My cat was sick this morning". What has that to do with business?

There are 2 sides to it.

My cat being sick may bring in a level of sympathy/empathy and people then realise you are a person not just a business. I know it's a shock but people buy from people and you may have heard that somewhere else!

Being just about business, well, that could also mean you have no life and nothing in common with me so I will not be reading your messages thank you very much.

Be you, post what you would say to friends. When you are your business, make sure you link back to your site, after all you want to drive your business through your site don't you?

Marketing yourself also markets your business but strangely enough, marketing your business does not market you.

I would say that if you have to justify social media then it is not for you.

If you think you can build up some releationships and give to that relationship then it will work. Think of it like networking or as I call it, farming. You plant seeds, now you have to water them from time to time, give them shelter a bit of sunshine. Then you have to remove the seeds that are not working and the weeds that have started to appear. You can't just plant a seed and walk away waiting for the beanstalck to grow over night.

The more people know you the more likely they are going to look into what you do, they are then more likely to pass on your details to people they know that need what you do.

Before jumping in a joining twitter et al, ask yourself what is it you really want to achieve. I personally have not set out through networking or social media to make money! I have set out to get my name and business name known. If I get business then it is a fantastic bonus.

Is your time more expensive than paying for national/international ads? Can you afford to not give it a try?

Perry, you sell a good service, you have things that you can use to bring people/followers to you, your zip line sponsorship could bring followers and make YOU interesting to follow. Not sure if you can find anything else that is free and gives you a large amount of free advertising globally? BTW, I got my first referal through twitter and that has been more than I did through 4N. Simple reason, more people, more chances of being seen, more chances of right place right time.

I am leaving out a whole raft of boosting your own website etc... through linking

...bang on posting. Can't add anything to that...so I won't

Thanks folks, all good feedback.

I post on here when I can because generally I like to help if I can, and if it's a debate about something I find interesting then I like to get my point of view across. That's not just about business, it's about me and business. I can see the point to that; I mean there is a point other than just doing it for the sake of the publicity. There are people on the 4N forums who in my opinion find any excuse to respond to something, anything, just to be seen to be posting and therefore just seeking to be seen more (none of the people I am thinking of have posted on this particular thread so far). These are people I probably would not do business with precisely because they over do it and it's obvious. So for me posting on any kind of forum is firstly becasue I have something to say and second, or even third, because it publicises me and my business. I do not post just to get attention. I feel that if I were to post on Twitter it would be just to get attention, not because I really believe in Twitter. I do a very bad job of saying things where they are not in response to some request, query, question, discussion. I do not have any need to say what I consider to be random, unprompted comments about stuff, be it life in general or business. I am always happy to respond to the comments, questions, and whatever others want to say when I have something relavant to add. I like to engage in meaningful conversation, not broadcast to the unknown. I am thinking of a frined who is a radio presenter. He sits in a studio talking to the world. There is no way I could do that.

Not sure where this leaves me!

Thanks,

Perry.

Perry

I have exactly the same concerns about social media as you do.

I am on Linkedin and I use it regularly, linking with people and looking to see if I can answer a question or enter a discussion. I look at these forums a couple of times a week to see if I can help anyone out and have just started asking questions on them myself. I set up a twitter account and have no idea what to do with it and not sure I really want to be tweeting all the time anyway as I have so much more going on daily and I have a facebook account for me personally but again have never used it.

But I am sure there is something in getting you and your brand out there for people to see, be it as a business expert or as a personality.

Which media to use, what is right for your business I think it a bit of experimentation, so I am about to try and see what response I get.

Hi Paul,

I feel I may have offended, not my intention at all!

It's not that I don't value marketing folk, it's that in this particular case, for the purpose of this particular question, I want to read the opinions of people who use social media to buy and sell, or indeed from people who have used them and found them not to work. Just for this question I did not want the response coloured by anyone who's business it is to promote various routes to market, I wanted the opinions of the users of those routes to market. By way of analogy, I did not want the opinion of the Yellow Pages salesman, I wanted the opnion of the advertisers in Yellow Pages.

Thanks Margaret, someone who understand me.

'I set up a twitter account and have no idea what to do with it'. Indeed. Back to my radio presenter frined. Some people like to stand on a platform and broadcast to the world because they enjoy doing that sort of thing. My frined does it on the radio. Others do it by writing books. Many now use Twitter. I do not have that desire to broadcast, if I did I too would probably be on the radio. I know many follow Steven Fry on Twitter. He is exactly the kind of person I am not. He makes his living from broadcasting and I imagine he loves doing it. I can see the point of him being on Twitter. I can't see the point of me being there other than a cynical attempt to sell stuff. That's not my business, or life, ethic.