“If Macy’s doesn’t have it, I’ll send you to someone who does!”
In 1947 Kris Kringle offered us that radical advice. It played well on the silver screen, but wasn’t a marketing ploy that any business was really going to try.
Even 62 years later this plot thread from Miracle on 34th Street seems like a pipe dream. Would Home Depot send us to Lowes? Or AT&T send us to Verizon?
Maybe that particular marketing idea wouldn’t work for most, but the heart of the idea is brilliant, and is at the core of how we SHOULD be utilizing social media.
It’s about the customer, not selling your product. Put the needs and wishes of the customer first, and there is a good chance you’ll reap the benefits. Social media can help you put the customer ahead of the “almighty dollar.”
It’s what Chris Brogan and Julien Smith talk about in Trust Agents. Build relationships. Build trust. It’s this sort of thing that will help you convert potential customers into real customers.
How are you putting your customers ahead of sales and profit?
[...] The second post was a very short but to the point post from Becky McCray called Shop Local Idea for Small Business. I found this particular post because it was shared by Chris Brogan, whom I follow on Google Reader. The idea was for local businesses to actually promote their competitors for the sake of promoting local shopping. Kind of like the idea I wrote about in Miracle on Social Media Street. [...]