A new study just released by digital agency i360 regarding Twitter use for branding, marketing and the consumer, indicates that consumers and brands use this medium in vastly different ways. By the way, this is also the case for Facebook.

Even though many businesses are jumping on the Twitter and Facebook bandwagon…they are finding they are on the outside of the bulk of conversations and not having the so-called instant success many of the Social Media gurus are promising. That is partly due to the fact businesses still think Social Media is just another form of advertising!! So how do they typically approach this? Well for the most part, they are still using the ‘old advertising model’ of shouting at people to get attention and conducting one way conversations about themselves, their brand, their great deal, and blah, blah, blah.

That is completely opposite of the way real live humans (consumers) converse and this certainly applies when it comes to social media. Conversations between people are two way. That is if you are really interested in connecting with people instead of just selling ‘at them’.

Marketers, businesses, and brands that are still pushing themselves on folks are being completely ignored and grouped with all the other annoying cyber noise class. Talking at your potential customer is OUT! It takes two way engagement to even get in the conversation game in the social media realm let alone influence someone to buy from you. Far too many believe they can just show up and Facebook friends will be eating out of your hands or Twitter broadcasts will ensure the masses come running. This is so far from the truth it’s sad.

Anyone selling you on the idea you can use cutesy or clever ads, quotes of the day, last minute deals or any other midway type of shenanigans to incite the masses to word of mouth you along like the greatest new ice cream flavor ever is just flat out lying to you.

People are talking! There is no doubt about that and this is what you want them to do about you. In my opinion, the social media platform is one of the greatest things that could ever have happened to businesses today if you understand what it really is, how to use it, and respect the people using it.

A perfect example of the incredible opportunities made available via social media is just this week Mashable.com reported on Facebook’s 500 million member milestone! That’s just amazing. One online application has managed to attack a cyber hangout of 500 million members and growing!!

Facebook 500 million

When it comes to Twitter, it’s also a powerhouse as well! Courtesy of Huffingtonpost stats as of the end of April this year check these few facts out…

• Twitter now has 105,779,710 registered users.
• New users are signing up at the rate of 300,000 per day.
• 180 million unique visitors come to the site every month.
• Of Twitter’s active users, 37 percent use their phone to tweet.
• More than 40% of all tweets start with @, which means they are directed at someone.
• 85% of Tweets are original and not re-tweets of other messages.

If you are in business, you MUST be in the social media space if you want to be taken serious and compete in this new business era. However…there is a right way to do it that can put you on the path to long term success. I’m telling you up front though, it’s not a quick BAM here I am kinda marketing thing. Expect it to take lots of smart work! And be clear here, Social Marketing Is Not For the Lazy, the Greedy, or the Arrogant. It not only takes smart and hard work to be successful in this sphere, but it also takes the RIGHT strategy, planning and execution. See more on this “Useless Social Media Plans” from my colleague Jay Deragon over at Relationship Economy.

Want Social Media Marketing to work for you?

Well you better get in tune with the right information flows that give it to you straight and truthful. Really take the time to identify who you want to have as customers and start talking to them. The best place a business can start the transformation they must embark upon in order for any of this to make sense or even work for them is to consider your motives and intentions for being in the social sphere in the first place. Yes, I get it…you are in business to sell, to make a profit. That is understood and expected by even your customer. But what worked in the past does not work now. This is really an age of connectedness like never before and people don’t want to be connected to fakes, wanna-be’s, get rich quick quakes, ‘get more eyeballs’ types, or the socially irresponsible and so on. They want and demand to be connected to the real deal. And when they read your mail (in the conversations you have socially) and see you are the real deal…they will gladly share you with their sphere of influence and on, and on. Powerful, but it can be unsettling if one of your business values is not integrity. Integrity is at the core of meaningful conversations and relationships online and off. Always had been…always will be.

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