Jay Leonard
I had a phone call from a professional service provider who wants more business from other professionals.
The person said, “I have excellent credentials.” Then he went on to explain he understood that the other professionals have long-standing relationships with people who offer the same services as he does.
This conversation led me to think once again of how social media has really changed the expectations of people when it comes to who they do business with.
While in most professions a “base line” of credentials is important — you would not let a doctor operate on you if he or she is not a surgeon, credentials today usually can only take you so far.
Why?
Because who you are is less important than what you can do for the members of your target market.
How can you make them look good, for example, in the eyes of their own clients? How can you provide an “extra” that no one else does?
Years ago I read the book “Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service” by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. This is a very brief book but a very, very powerful one. It involves more than “going the extra mile.” It involves anticipating needs and providing solutions before problems present themselves.
(Read the book yourself — the information is presented as an amusing fable.)
Now here is where effective participation in social media comes in.
If you do have a marketing mindset of focusing on what you can do for your target market rather than what you are, you will want to be able to keep this important distinction “in front of” your target market.
Of course you can give speeches to groups, send out flyers, do all the usual outreach efforts. But you should consider adding social media to this mix.
With social media you can actually demonstrate how you can benefit your target market without resorting to “bragging” or outright advertising messages. You can keep in touch over time without bombarding your target market with annoying messages.
Yes, this type of marketing strategy takes time. It does not happen overnight. But used effectively and consistently, it can help you break down the natural barriers keeping you from connecting with your target markets.
If you would like a phone or skype one-hour consult to apply this strategy to your own business, email me at [email protected] for information.
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
Learn how to publish your content on B2C
Join our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage
Add B2C to your Google News Feed
Hi Phyllis,
thank you for this post.
It resonated with us, since we (Commun.it) are a small startup with zero marketing budget, and we were able to reach thousands of businesses in the last year by doing exactly what you described – building long-term relationships, asking for help, reaching out and trying to see how we can help our potential customers.
It’s an important message that needs to be heard. Thank you for sharing this post :)
Mike — Thank you for leaving such a nice comment on the post. I especially appreciated hearing that Commun.it has had success with this marketing strategy!