Head to head: Join the chat and make money

Feb 7, 2011 9:45 AM
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What is the best way to use social media in the channel?

Savvy marketing means understanding how social networking platforms can aid your efforts, but it also means using video, mobile applications and social customer relationship management (CRM) to drive your marketing as well. Every potential area of customer interaction - from a website landing page to a Twitter feed or a Facebook account - is a place to influence the conversation about business.

"It's no longer enough to just have a website," says Luanne Tierney, vice president of worldwide channels marketing at Cisco. "It's about having a conversation with your customer."

"The worst thing you can do on social networks is sell," says David Nour, founder and managing partner of The Nour Group and a specialist in business and social networking relationships. "The best thing you can do is listen, engage and influence."

"You know what it takes to get into social media? A pulse," Nour says. "You know what it takes to succeed? A strategy." Nour offers five steps for building meaningful social networking relationships, with the caveat that "nothing will replace that three dimensional engagement" of interacting face-to-face, business person-to-customer.

First, he said, identify relevant stakeholders through LinkedIn and other tools. Then find where those stakeholders are getting their insights, followed by engaging those sources of insight with your unique pitch. Finally, deliver the best experience you can - removing things that don't "wow" - and attempt to influence best practices in the marketing community.

"Your knowledge of switches will get you to about here," Nour says, holding his hand up about
half-way.

"But your ability to engage and influence others, on- and off-line, often without authority, is what is going to set you apart.

You are a in a value-based relationship business." As customers become more and more educated and sophisticated, doing more research on potential suppliers online, engaging both customers directly and key influencers of those customers becomes more crucial to Nour's social sales cycle.

1. Like me.

2. Know me.

3. Trust me.

4. Pay me.

"People who circumvent that process, online or offline, shoot themselves in the foot," he says.

Next: John Dobbin, principal at Nexus

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Head to head: Join the chat and make money

4 comments in this discussion

"Okay, I say 'manipulate', you say 'influence'. It comes down to the client being 'targeted' constantly. Smaller players may come to this party later, or not at all, because the gap between them ..."

By spook1958

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This article appeared in the January, 2011 issue of CRN.

Comments: 4

spook1958 Feb 7, 2011 10:38 AM	How many would buy your product if they knew you were deliberately manipulating their conversations in order to make a sale? People are fed up with such sleazy tactics. They join social networks for social reasons, not sales manipulations. Gee I wonder if the move toward internet purchasing is because the clients are fed up being lied to by sales staff who lack the knowledge or the balls to say "I don't know, but I will find out for you". If a product or service can only survive by manipulating customers, you should sell a better product or service. Word of mouth works now because it is genuine. You start manipulating that and all we will have are clients that feel they can't trust anybody.
BaysNet Feb 7, 2011 11:55 AM	John's on the right track here it's important to know HOW to use a social network to market your products and services as this is the new word of mouth. Spooks deep distrust of being marketed at by sales people on social networks is a concern but one he needs to address. I too hate being marketed at but by recruiters so never connect with them unless I really do know them and respect them and their ethics.
adamson Feb 8, 2011 11:43 AM	I think that all the contributors had useful suggestions, and none of them were about manipulating conversations. That's actually the whole point, that manipulation will be punished faster than before and with with more public ramifications. The channel has a great opportunity to use the medium to build relationships and reputation, and from that will come cost-effective sales. As was mentioned, you need to know where to contribute, how to, when to, and keep adding value, and to know how this effort blends with all your other online and brand efforts. The big guys in our industry are killing this, and it's not because they have cash to burn, it's because it's a very effective way to build relationships and extend the brand. Oddly enough, it's the smaller players who are the laggards, while the big guys are the innovators. 2011 we should see this balance move towards good planning and execution down the channel. Walter @adamson http://newleaseg2m.com
spook1958 Feb 8, 2011 4:20 PM	Okay, I say 'manipulate', you say 'influence'. It comes down to the client being 'targeted' constantly. Smaller players may come to this party later, or not at all, because the gap between them and their clients is a very small one. In a regional area, there is virtually no gap at all. You wave to each other on the way to work, stop at the same sets of lights, kids play sports together on weekends and you run into each other at shops. Okay, I am a dinosaur. But if I asked my client which marketing method would most appeal to them, yours would not.