A recent article by Marketing Profs pointed out why social media isn’t working as well as we thought it would. A free Facebook page? It sounded like the answer to every client who has told you they want a marketing campaign but have no budget. How often have you heard that? Well, you get what you pay for, even with that free Facebook page. You and 37 million other companies who have Facebook fan pages.
Rally is reading a lot from experts who are disdaining social media. They maintain that most of your buyers are baby boomers, who, despite the fact that people ages 35-55 are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook – much to the chagrin of all Harvard students – don’t engage in B2B activities there. So, you need to reach them in more traditional ways, right?
Even baby boomers can change, can’t they? They came of age in the 1960’s, after all. They invented change. While they aren’t avid texters (they type is just too small), they are avid electronics users (nothing if not to keep track of the grandchildren). But to do business with the decision makers on a purchasing level, we’ve experienced a tendency toward things electronic: they can research you, get to know you, experience you before you connect in real time; that way, by the time you do talk (human contact continues to be relevant) it’s a pertinent and productive conversation.
So, if they are into electronics, how do you get them to your Facebook page or the website that you just invested $15,000 in? Despite Kevin Costner’s intuition on the baseball field, you can’t just build it and expect them to come. Passive doesn’t cut it anymore; there’s just too much noise out there. You have to be aggressive. Reach out through all of your avenues – email, phone, direct mail, networking (in person and electronic forms like Linked In) and other forms of traditional advertising. Yes, they still work, when included with more modern formats.
So build it, and invite them to come.
