Do you have a Twitter account for your business? What about Facebook, Pinterest or LinkedIn? Do you dabble in these or a myriad of other social media sites thinking that it is good marketing for your business? Maybe it is or maybe it isn't, depending on how you are using this new media.

The idea of using social media as a marketing tool has been around for awhile now. Anytime you can define people's likes and dislikes, and can categorize large numbers of people with the same likes and dislikes, you have a target market that should be ripe for advertising. But much like everyone thought banner ads on web sites would be the next best thing since Burma Shave put signs along highways, just because you can approach a target market with a hard sales pitch does not mean they are in the frame of mind to hear it. In fact, many marketing efforts on social media have had the opposite effect. Disney recently found out that the promotions they sent out in an eblast were well received, but had a backlash of criticism when they attempted to promote the same thing on Facebook to those who had become Friends on their character pages¹. When on social media, the hard sell becomes viewed as an offensive sales pitch - much like the telemarketer who always calls when you have sat down to eat your dinner.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.²" That includes a time for a straightforward marketing pitch complete with an action point that entices the customer to make a purchase. But there is also a time to refrain. In your marketing efforts, you have to know the right time and the right place to push for the sale. A lot of that has to do with the mindset of your target market, something we have called the "mood" of the market. (See my article Marketing Mood.) But it also has to do with their mindset when they are in a specific place. For instance, I had a client who tried to hand out brochures at the end of an NFL game a few years ago. There was nothing wrong with the brochures. They had great content and a clear call to action. There was nothing wrong with the demographic - people who attended the game that day were clearly in my client's wheelhouse. The problem was the mood of market that was determined by the experience they had just experienced in the stadium. They were not in the mood to even consider looking at a brochure. They ended up on the ground and trash cans outside the stadium. The time was not right because the place was not right. The same could be said for many social media sites. People are looking for something other than a hard sell on social media.

So what is the marketing value of social media? The value comes in building relationships between the customer and your brand. There are some marketing activities that work superbly on social media. Content marketing is one of those activities. If you are trying to set your company apart as the expert in your field, lend a little knowledge on a social media site and create a following. Many of you used social media to link to this article. The value comes when people have good feelings about your brand, be that your corporation or your products and services. There is a trust that is built before most people will consider making a purchase, and that is a function of marketing. The other perk for marketing's use of social media is as a networking tool. Most professionals I talk to prefer to buy from someone they know. They are distrustful of those they do not know. Part of that is the result of the world we live in and the economic conditions of the past four years. It has made us look closely at everyone around us and ask if the person will be around to do business with tomorrow. But it also has to do with a fundamental part of doing business: we like to feel good about the people with whom we do business. We used to fill a Rolodex with business cards. Now we have contacts and friends on social media. It is really the same thing, but the new social network is much more robust.

If you are looking at social media as a place to make a few offers and start a bidding war for your services, you will be disappointed. However, if you are looking for a tool that will make your target market aware of what you are all about, it is hard to beat. And if you are looking to engage people in an effort to widen your circle of influence, social media is a good place to put your efforts.

____________________________

1. Beware of Social Media's "Third Rail", by Don Peppers, March 18, 2013 LinkedIn post