How To Lure Customers Using Social Media

This post isn’t really about how to lure customers using social media as much as its about a far more important question, which is should you? I remember the first time I saw an advertisement that was not directed at me. It was a powerful experience because for the first time I realized how awful traditional marketing was.  And the only reason I could recognize this was because I was not the intended target. (For the record it was for a toy commercial.)

Market Customers Where They Are

So to return my initial question, Should you market yourself with social media? The answer is yes, of course you should. You are a business and that is not only what customers expect, but what they want. We want you to market us where WE hang out, on the channels and networks where we spend the majority of our time. Don’t take out ads in newspapers or magazines, people aren’t reading those anymore, if you hadn’t heard. Plus, those kinds of marketing efforts are expensive, and you don’t get the benefits of metrics. It’s basically a shot in the dark.

I recently had a conversation a very intelligent writer at a major magazine. He basically told me that some brands don’t care about metrics and are willing to spend the money to be in certain magazines as a way to build and/ or maintain a certain image. I buy that. Even though I think it is silly as hell because the money spent on those ads could be deployed elsewhere and do a lot more good. Or they could just be given to charity or back to investors or spent on improving customer service, etc.

Promotion Is One Tool, Not The Only Tool

Businesses should definitely be using social media to promote themselves, but only if its a part of a larger campaign and strategy of engagement, sharing, community building, conversation. If you are only on Twitter to talk about your happy hour specials, you are missing the whole point, and even if you do gain some customers that way, you are missing out on a whole lot more.

All businesses want more customers. And there is nothing wrong with it. I’ve seen some of the most successful restaurants and brands in the hospitality business absolutely agonize over whether or not to engage social media. This, above anything else, including the costs (small) and time (large) involved in social media engagement, is what shapes hospitality brands as shadows on places like Facebook and Twitter.

My message to my clients, both existing and potential, is simple.

1. Take the time to listen and observe what is going on in social networking.
2. Experiment with engaging using the knowledge you’ve gleaned from listening and watching.
3. Discover what works and doesn’t work for you, and pay attention to what the metrics are telling you. Don’t guess. Know.

Customers want to be marketed to. Especially sophisticated customers with discerning tastes. Those are the most high value customers of all, because they are the ones who when you make them feel at home, will get on their blogs and Twitter accounts, who will actually pick up the phone, and tell all their friends, family and acquaintances, just how wonderful your brand is.

Help us spend our money. But help us by offering real value. Talk WITH not AT us about your brand. Who are you? What do you do? Why should we care? Tell your stories, chronicle your narrative. Humanize yourself. The businesses that can do this will see a return on their investment unlike anything they’ve previously seen from their previous marketing efforts.

Image Source: Podknox on Flickr

Tagged as: Social Media and Restaurants, Social Media for Business, Social Media Strategies