I get this question a lot. It’s a question I ask of myself a lot, as well. I’m betting on the answer being yes, with some caveats depending on exactly who and where your target market is and what the best way might be to reach them. My “yes” is not yet authoritative, but it’s getting firmer by the day. I will (try to) blog the learnings as they happen. In the meantime, Chris Brogan has a great roundup of posts on this and related subjects here: Best Social Media Advice from Chris Brogan. There are especially good posts about small businesses under the “community development” and “social media” headings. I’ll be coming back to this resource.
“But honestly, would social media really work for my plumbing / building / aromatherapy business?”
May 12th, 2008 | Primers, Relationships
3 comments ↓
If you view your business as building relationships with your customers, then using social media to further this goal makes sense regardless of what industry you’re in.
They had a good post about this at Duct Tape Marketing the other day. I’m assuming that’s where the inspiration came for this post.
I work at a plumbing wholesaler, and we’re currently dabbling with a blog format for our year long travel incentive program. So I wouldn’t say the medium is central to our business like the Lures example from DTM. But hey, we’re trying.
Hi Jesse, thanks for the pointer to the Duct Tape Marketing post — I hadn’t actually seen it but will go look now. Someday I’d love an update on how the blog is working for the plumbing wholesaler — you’re right that it’s just an extension of the old rule of building relationships. Learning how to apply the new tools most appropriately is challenging to me, though.
Pam,
Check out another example of social media being used in a low tech industry, Google “Greenwerks.” Or go ahead and click on the link in my name for this comment, it will take you to a post I wrote about the company.
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