Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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April 8, 2009

How Do You Invite a Shy Company to Taste Social Media?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 8:17 am

Sometimes a Taste Is All We Need

Last night David Panscot wrote a compelling comment on my blog. His question was how do we get people trained to broadcast a message to become part of a culture of trust relationships?

He already knows what we all do — it’s hard to change thinking like that. It requires a cultural shift. It takes empowerment to face the risk of doing something that goes against what “we’ve always done.”

I always think of how Baskin Robbins gets us to try something new. They give us a taste before we buy.

Here are five ways to invite a shy company to take a taste of social media.

  1. Invite a member of the organization to be an advisor on social media project. Ask him or her to sit in on calls as you decide the direction of your plans.
  2. Invite the organization to become a sponsor by offering to lend a hand in the form of design work on your marketing effort.
  3. Invite two or three traditional organizations to participate in a survey that you might send to your customers about how they might like to interact with your product or your web pressence. Then send them the results of the actual survey once it has been completed.
  4. Invite an organization to try a limited size version of a social media class that you want to pilot.
  5. Invite the CMO of an organization to be your guest at a local tweetup. As you introduce him or her, ask folks to tell share the single most important value of Twitter.

That’s a start. Not everyone of these might work for every organization or environment. The point is to give folks a relevant taste that fits easily into their lives — no risk with noticeable benefit.

How do you invite a shy company to taste social media?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Filed under Marketing, Successful Blog | 8 Comments »




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8 Comments to “How Do You Invite a Shy Company to Taste Social Media?”

  1. April 8th, 2009 at 8:48 am
    Adrian Dayton said

    Great question Liz!

    This is THE question everyone is asking right now. Social media has suddenly crashed into the mainstream, but the vast majority of companies still don’t get it, or they are scrambling to figure it out.

    Maybe you could pose the question: “How do you invite a shy company to taste social media” with a #shy hashtag. I bet there are some other great ideas on Twitter.

  2. April 8th, 2009 at 9:00 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Adrian!
    So many companies are worried that they’ll get wrong or it won’t work for them and they’ll lose the time they invested. We know enough to ease their way in. That should be our quest now. Yeah.

    Let’s see where the post leads …

  3. April 8th, 2009 at 9:54 am
    Mary Rabalais said

    Hi Liz:
    These are great ideas (I follow you on Twitter). Another option is to search a few of their keyword phrases and show them how their competitors social networking sites are ranking high in the search engines – esp. Google! This has been an-opener for many doubting prospects recently.

    Anxious to see other ideas…and thanks for tackling this challenge!

  4. April 8th, 2009 at 10:46 am
    David Pancost said

    Hi, Liz,

    Thanks for the tip of the hat. I really like your five ideas, especially numbers 1, 4 and 5. Invitation to low or no risk exposure along with heart felt discussion, can go a long way toward opening up a shy company to trying new approaches.

    In my thinking I keep going back to your small town analogy. The very first place to start is in the relationship you have with your client. This kind of becomes a “lead by example” effort.

    As you experience a positive trust relationship with your client, you can keep pointing out the benefits of that relationship, how it was created and how it grew. I think that is the best way to explain social marketing to a shy client.

    As with all things I think it starts with a commitment to other-centered thinking. A commitment to bringing value into the relationship. Then use that to demonstrate how the company can do the same with its own customers or clients.

    It’s kind of why I’m taking a small break from Twitter for a few days. Though I enjoy the “chatting” aspect of tweeting, I’m asking myself the question, how can I best bring real value to my followers? I keep coming up with the answer of listen more than talk. Talk only when you can truly connect with someone and offer something that will be of truly valuable to them.

    This brings me to another question: How can we bring real value to our followers or friends on Twitter, FaceBook or other social networking sites we might be involved in?

    Any thoughts?

    Love where you are going with all of this. It’s really getting me to think. Thanks. :-)

  5. April 8th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
    Tim Bursch said

    Liz,
    Great question. I think relationship is huge here. If you know the client, give something away- knowledge, tips, help them get their feet wet. I would also try collaborating, walking alongside, where they are giving input and seeing the value themselves vs. a shrink wrapped product/answer.

    @David- Like your thoughts on listening too. Good idea to sometimes take a break, think about why and what value I bring. I think we can bring value by listening, noticing people, and asking how we can help.

  6. April 9th, 2009 at 6:54 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Mary,
    Key word searches catch their attention. You’re so right about that. I find that if you combine key word search with conversation about the folks on Twitter who are talking — pointing to actually pictures and describing the person behind the avatar — the context brings it home that real people are saying those things.

    We so often expect people coming online to “get” the context when they really have no experience or frame of referemce. Do you agree?

  7. April 9th, 2009 at 7:05 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi David,
    I learn a lot a Twitter by asking questions and listening. I’m sure with you on that plane. It feeds me to know what people are thinking. My thoughts expand when people like you add to them.

    I’ve also been thinking that inviting shy clients to join us when we go to conferences to share experiences of any social media venue are ways to bring them in — the same way we would introduce them to our “neighborhood.”

  8. April 9th, 2009 at 7:06 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Tim,
    Another thought I’ve been having is to ask a new client to collaborate on an ebook from their point of view. :)

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