| Online vs Real Life Social Engagement; Is there really a difference? Social Engagement in the real world? Really, it's nothing new. Any good salesperson is an expert at not only selling his product, but also making friendships. The good salesperson knows that by developing a friendship they don't make a sale, but instead create a customer for life.
In the book, The Science of Influence: How to Get Anyone to Say "Yes" in 8 Minutes or Less!, the author Kevin Hogan describes it this way: "As people develop relationships with their clients they become friends. Friendships grow and become special, and future sales are all but assured with the ongoing relationship". That is why salespeople always take their clients to lunch, the ballgame and spend so much of their time with clients not selling, but socializing.
In the online, social media world, those friendships are created by true social engagement. For example, in the following article, I outline how several businesses are successful for their real worl social engagement and even how it is more effective than coupons for free coffee: Social Engagement vs Free Coffee
Of course, online, make are singing the song and dance called: social engagement, yet, it would seem just doing the usual one-way marketing. How, uninteresting, boring and anti-social! For example, is anything really going to "get social" or it is just a plan for people to "get sold"?
Get Social? No... Get Lost!
And, now we can hear about some myths of social engagement. I think the only surprise here is that someone would actually consider a facebook, "like" or a tweet to be either social or engaging. I would liken them to a blip of noise in a field of noise.
Today at lunch I was talking a with a friend about restaurants and liking pages. The first problem is that of the local restaurants I've liked, I've never head anything from them. I have no idea if they never post, if the posts are boring so I just don't pay attention, if they are lost in the noise of facebook, or if I blocked them because they posted too much noxious stuff. The second problem is that when I want to see who I've actually liked on facebook, that process eludes me. Yes, it is probably easy, but not easy enough, so basically after I like someone I never see them again.
Yawn! More boring likes! A blip of noise in the noise. Would you consider a small room with 100 people yelling at the top of their lungs to be making friends, or social engagement? What about a stadium full? Would anyone pay attention to anyone's message? How is twitter any different? What can you hear when everyone is buzzing? Now, it's your turn. What do you think? Expert Page: What is social engagement? |
