I’ll admit it. I’m still a social media skeptic.
Just yesterday I was watching a video of an Internet marketing expert who I admire in which he said being on Facebook and Twitter is now mandatory for businesses.
I disagree. There are many businesses, small and large, who can and are doing very well without jumping into the world of social media, thank you very much.
Having said that, I do believe that when used smartly, social media can certainly be a great tool for small business owners.
Of all the ways you can use social media, however, I think there’s one that trumps all the others. I believe it’s the most important, yet underutilized social media strategy out there.
What is it?
Listen.
That’s it. Just listen.
Listen to your prospects.
Listen to your customers.
Listen to your competitors.
Listen to your critics.
Listen to your fans.
Listen to your industry leaders.
Social media makes it very easy to keep track of what’s being said about you, your company, your competitors, your industry, etc.
Use that to your advantage to address any complaints circulating about your business from unhappy customers.
Listen in on the conversations your prospects are having to gain key insights into what makes them tick (which is immensely important to understand when it comes to effectively marketing your business).
Keep track of your competitors’ products, services, pricing, customers complaints/praise, offers, etc. to learn what they’re doing well that you can incorporate and improve upon and what they’re not doing well that presents an opportunity for you to gain a competitive advantage.
This is no different than in the offline world (Shameless Plug Alert: You can discover why the secret to marketing online is offline by downloading my free report located at the top of the right sidebar on this page). You gain much greater knowledge and insight about how to improve your business from listening as opposed to talking.
Social media tools just let you to listen to a greater number of people and with greater ease than ever before.
In my next post, I’ll share seven of the best social media spots on the web for listening.
Related posts:
- The 8 Best Places to Eavesdrop in the Social Media World to Gain a Competitive Advantage
- The 4-Letter Word Missing From Most Social Media Strategies That Dooms Them to Failure
- Internet Marketing Tip To Save Your Money, Time and Sanity
- Google Local Search Update: Lowly PPC Guy Gets A Big Slap And An Important Reminder
- Internet Marketing vs. marketing on the internet
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
As a new and small Internet Business owner I have been trying to think of ways social media could help me. I have been using it to get traffic and may a link stream, but this article has me thinking of other ways to use it. Maybe questionnaires, and invitations to make comment on my site. Thank you this post informative and helpful
That is very wise advice.
Listen in social media. Pay attention to what is going on around you.
Listening will, as you point out, make it possible for you to identify the problem and then provide the solutions!
Your audience realizes how much value you bring to the table and that increases your click through on link, resulting in more business and …..
Listening…is great advice.
Thanks.