“Can we get to business?!”
That partly-excited, partly-frustrated-sounding question popped out at me from among several dozen when I was moderating a Webinar (”Social Media 101: Get Your Agency on Facebook and Twitter” presented by Insurance Journal) in early September.
The Webinar was presented by Nibby Priest of Vaughn Insurance Agency Co., who is among the most-active insurance producers I know in using social networking.
The question came while Nibby was showing how to get a personal Facebook page started. This is one of the most-popular things to do on the Internet. After all, Facebook has 200 million-plus members and is among the top 5 most-visited Web sites in the world.
When I read the question, I sensed that the agent asking the question was impatient with all the “personal” Facebook material, and wanted to get to the important stuff: how to use Facebook to market and sell.
I’ve felt the same frustration in the past — until I realized that the personal nature of Facebook is what makes it popular and captivating for millions. Facebook isn’t like advertising or direct mail or an e-mail newsletter or a Yellow Pages ad. It’s not really a marketing tool or tactic to be pulled out of the marketing plan and executed.
It’s something very different: It’s a technological way to carry out social relationships online.
Facebook is popular because it allows people to:
– connect person-to-person
– choose people, brands, organizations, causes, and advertisers they want to connect with online … and shun or ignore those they don’t
– easily search and find people from their past and present to build relationships going forward into the future
So, for me, a lesson of “Social Media 101: Get Your Agency on Facebook and Twitter” was a reminder that social networking is about talking with people, not merely sending out business messages via advertising or marketing. I’m as big a fan as anyone of advertising and marketing, but Facebook requires a different approach. It requires a commitment to joining a community, providing value, presenting information and perspective, and building relationships.
The great hope of social networking for marketers is that when members of the community are ready to buy, they will find you — even seek you out — because they know you and know what you know.
– Charles Wasilewski
