Social Media As A Sales Tool

Fact: many people use social media. Fact: No more than a week ago in the UK, it was revealed that some adults were actively seeking some kind of ‘help’ for their addiction to portable devices online. Fact: Listening to the download charts, it’s very hard to find much in the way of musical merit. Now, put these in a jar and stir well. The inevitable result is a huge marketplace with an insatiable appetite for drivel and the superficial.

You think that this is unsubstantiated, attention-grabbing sensationalism? – It’d go down well online, doubtless – but consider this. I play badminton every Tuesday, have done for years, and last week, one of our four decided to prop his phone up against the wall of the court, and broadcast the giggling but enthusiastic thrashings-about of we fifty-somethings for the last half hour. By the end of that short space of time, seventeen people were watching. Why? In days past, we played at a much higher standard rather than now, where our collective creaking sounds like a galleon foundering in a storm.

The sheer quantity of cat-related footage on YouTube should be evidence enough of the amount of time people spend consuming this superficial content. So how can your business draw the attention of all of these people? Carefully!

The most important consideration is whether your target market is actually spending time online and in Social Media. If not, then this is not the tool you’re looking for… well, unless you have large amounts of time to waste.

Assuming your model customer is out there watching kitty-telly, then you’d do worse than taking time looking at what the big consumer brands are doing. Promotions, vouchers and competitions are all good ways of getting attention. Just make sure that all of your marketing tools – online and in the real world – are in step with each other.