Or maybe I should title this TALK TO ME, PLEASE.
This post is a bit off the beaten path of my normal posting. No pictures, no art. It's business.
Lately, it seems that the whole idea behind marketing has been e-marketing. It's crammed down my throat every day, every minute, every second. I go to networking groups, where my intention is to get to know you and your business, while I hope your intentions are to get to know me and my business, but instead I'm basically told the only way I'm going to get business is through e-marketing. Facebook; LinkedIn; Google; Flicker; Picasso; and now, Google+. I have to write blog posts and articles and post them online and cram my name into every web directory that will let me so I can be number one on the all impressive Google search (I don't even use Google to search). I'm supposed to register on Google places and get recommendations on Yelp and every other site that serves the same purpose.
You know, if I had time to do all of this, I wouldn't have time to do any work.
Here's my point, if there is a point to be made. Today was organization day for me. Cleaning out my computer files, backing up, all that good in house stuff that must be done, and while browsing through my client files, it occurred to me that not a single one of them came from my website, my Facebook page or my blog. They all came because I introduced myself and started a conversation or through a referral. Amazing! Good old fashioned marketing.
What every happened to that? Good old fashioned marketing. What ever happened to people talking to people?
The gripe about all of this is when I'm making business decisions, I want to know who I'm making that decision with. I'm not going to get any sort of feel from deciding to use your services based on a website, Facebook page, etc. And while I do grasp the idea that the media out there on the internet is simply an introduction, it's never enough. Now I have to set up an appointment with you to see if you can provide the services I need. Then I have to find others in your industry and set another appointment, do cost comparisons, and there's that all important personal touch that's part of every business transaction. So let me ask you, do I spend all my precious time bogged down with appointment after appointment, or do I call a business associate or two and ask them if they know someone they'd recommend for the job? You better bet it's the latter.
Seriously, what ever happened to the art of communication? (Ah, there's my third title for this post.) I really hope it's not dead. While I do believe that the internet serves a purpose for business, it's an aid to marketing, not a solution.
I don't need to know how to e-market. My clients take themselves seriously and they take their business decisions seriously and without communication...personally, I'd have to rethink my business tactics.
Is it just me? Does the business world still market itself via human contact? Is e-marketing the do all, end all of the business marketing?
I'd really love to hear some input on this.
My favorite way to do business is meet people face to face and share ideas and referrals. That is why I attend networking meetings, chamber mixers and so forth. Social media can improve and strengthen those relationships as well as introduce me to new prospects. Lets face it, right now we are communicating using emarketing.
ReplyDeleteIn todays competitive market businesses that fail to change with the times end up closing their doors. Look at Borders & Blockbuster they got on the e-wagon a little late! Sad but true. It is a fact that over 70% of all internet searchers are using google, and that is a number that should not be ignored by a business owner.
I spend a little time, maybe 15 minutes each day posting, writing or filling out directories, or sending emails. I get calls all the time, "I found you on google" that excites me because all that costs me, was a little of my time.
I can't stress enough that emarketing may not be for everybody, or every business, but it does work for many. A lot of companies spend big dollars to have someone else to do all this marketing for them just to get the phone to ring.
There are many people who are set in their old school ways, but the younger generation loves electronic marketing, so I will be a changin with the times to keep my bills paid.
Just my opinion on the subject.
Appreciate the input Peter.
ReplyDeleteI can see where e-marketing can work well for retail (Borders/Blockbuster - though they came in late), but often for a service industry (and I know you're a service industry), I'm not seeing a lot of it. I've worked in service related industries even in the e-boom and really never saw any business come from the internet. It was all the owner going out and meeting people and referrals. And I'm not saying e-marketing should be ignored. I do it. I get good numbers on my website and I get good numbers on my blog. Though I have yet to get a customer from it. And maybe it's my line of business.
So maybe the focus should have been there? Though times are changing, everything cannot be based on e-marketing and that's what it seems to be lately. Personally, I'll continue to e-market, but I'm more inclined to actually meet people and do things the old fashioned way. For my company, it just works better.
The whole thing reminds me of that car commercial where the teenage girl is complaining about her parents only having 19 friends on Facebook and at the end, she's just sitting in front of her computer with her 600+ FB friends and she says "This is living". It's funny but it's sad because it's just a little too real.