Getting Back to Marketing Basics Online

You’ve grown up with the Coke commercials

• It’s the Real Thing
• Coke Adds Life
• Have A Coke and A Smile
• Catch the Wave

And who could forget “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke”

You bought Coke and felt good about it.  But things have changed. 

You see the Coke logo.  It blends into all the other logos.  Sure you’d like a Coke, but if they only have Pepsi, that’s okay.

You’re Worn Out

To stay sane, you've tuned out the hundreds to thousands of advertisements bombarding you daily.  So have your customers. 

Now you're in business.  You need to market.  You turn to what you know, broadcasting just like Coke. 

You send out direct mailers, post broadly targeted Facebook ads, and run a radio or television ad.  Get your name out to as many people as possible.  Someone’s apt to buy, right?

It's Just Not Working Any More

Wrong.

Broadcasting was effective in the 1950's because it was new. Today because everyone's doing it, broadcast advertising is just noise in the background.

Enter Social Media

Successful businesses have limited their broadcasting and started building relationships through social media.  They offer samples of their services through conversations, providing help or answering a questions.

By doing this, people get to know, like and trust them.  Once they do, these future customers are more apt to buy from these businesses rather than their competition shouting BUY NOW.

Social media won’t work if you are trying to use it like a traditional marketing tool, however.  Honestly, it will work against you.

How Do You Start?

There are four things you can do right away to build relationships with people visiting your social media sites.

• Welcome them.  New subscribers to your newsletter? Say hi.  New fans to your page? Give ‘em a howdy.  You wouldn’t stand behind the counter of a store when a prospective customer walked in (I hope) so why would you not greet newcomers to your sites.
• Offer them a sample.  Give them a taste of what you do. It could be sharing and insight, article, blog or video.  Let them test the waters before they buy.
• Answer their questions. Any question not just about products and services.  The more you can help them, the more they’ll come back.
• Stay in touch. Don’t become a spammer.  Stay in touch as you would like someone to stay in touch with you. 

Build solid relationships at the beginning and you’ll have a steady traffic of customers all year long.

I’ve only listed a couple of relationship building tools, what do you do to build relationships with your online connections?