Image by jima via Flickr
The other day I took the one mile drive to the center of Lancaster. It’s a trip that I make at least six times a week. This time, however, I paid attention to the businesses that I drove past. I was actually surprised at how many businesses there were in this short stretch, most of which I had never seen. In fact, if my math is correct, I had probably never seen or heard of at least 60% of them. A lot of them were small storefronts tucked in among row houses.
To be honest, most of them were businesses in which I’d never really be interested or would ever have need of: a pawn broker, a tattoo and piercing shop, and some stores that I”m really not even sure what they do. But there were also a few stores that interested me: a couple of antique stores, a Peruvian restaurant, a Dominican restaurant, and more.
And I had never seen them or heard of them before. I had no clue they were there.
The problem? A combination of lack of marketing and clutter.
The clutter problem is such that we have all learned how to ignore you and your business. It is said that the average American is confronted with upwards of 3,000 ad impressions each day. We filter these out both actively and passively. And as we drive by your business, we do the same thing. We don’t see you.
At one point, all it took was a creative sign. But then everyone got signs. Bigger, more colorful signs.
Clutter.
And we tune you out.
Enter Social Media. Inbound vs. Outbound marketing. The practice of “getting found”.
But guess what? Even though there are 750 million users on Facebook, there are also millions of businesses.
Clutter.
So the world of Social Media, which is supposed to help you get found online, is actually very cluttered. And so we scream louder. We fall back on the same tired methods of traditional, mainstream media marketing that may have worked at one time, but are no longer effective.
As you engage on Social Media; as you create and disseminate content across various social channels, don’t fall into the trap of traditional media. It’s not about who can scream the loudest. It’s not about being the biggest or the brightest or the most outrageous. Those are all forms of shouting.
Focus on the “social” and not the “media”.
Slow down. Stop shouting. And talk to me. Not to the collective “me” of 750-million Facebook users, or 200+ million Twitter users. Talk to me: Ken Mueller of Lancaster, PA.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of insurance agents in Lancaster County. If and when I decide to make a change, I’m not going to go to the one that shouts the loudest or has the biggest ad in the Yellow Pages. I’m going to go with Chris who I met on Twitter. Why? Because we met, we became friends, and we built a relationship. And not once did he try to sell me insurance. But I know him and I trust him.
If and when I decide to work with a financial planner, I won’t spend my time on Google. I’ll go to my friend Jeremy, another friend I met via Social Media. Why? Because we met, we became friends, we built a relationship. And not once did he pester me to become a client. But I know him and I trust him.
If I need a graphic designer, or a printer, or a realtor, I don’t have to look far. In fact, in just about every business or business category you can think of, I have friends who I’ve met on Social Media and I trust them.
None of these people or businesses has had to shout. There are no flashy signs, no loud radio commercials, no ads in Yellow Pages.
Just relationships.
Will they make money off of me tomorrow? Probably not.
But when I choose to be their customer, you can bet I’ll be loyal. And I’ll tell people about them. In fact, I already do. While I don’t have a business relationship with either Chris or Jeremy, or most of the others, I often send other friends their way.
Word of mouth. Referrals.
Take this a step further. As I write this, I’m on vacation in North Carolina. While we come here every year, I still don’t know all of the businesses. And since this is a small beach town, I’m sure that the economy relies heavily on tourism and vacation traffic. We drive through a lot of small beach towns, and each one looks the same, with the same sort of businesses.
How do I choose which ones to patronize? What draws me in?
In one town there is an area with about five very similar looking seafood restaurants. We go to the same one every year. Why? Well, the decision is made by others, but if it were up to me, I’d mix it up a bit. But how do other people choose? If you go down a street and are confronted with five seemingly similar seafood restaurants, how do you choose? How does word of mouth work when people only visit for about one week out of the year? How do you cut through the clutter?
For some, it’s those airplanes that fly along the beach pulling signs about the latest deals or menu items.
But I have to say, I find very little creativity down here in a Realtor driven beach rental environment. So many opportunities, yet so few are taken. We are handed a packet of materials which includes a stack of ads for restaurants and other businesses. More clutter. My eyes glaze over before I even start looking through it. So I give up. And I’m sure those companies are paying good money to be included in those packets.
But you know what works for me? Word of mouth. I don’t look at the pile of paper that will just end up in the trash. But, when we get into our rental house or condo and we find a note on the fridge from one of the previous occupants that says “Hey, check out So and So’s House o’ Seafood. It’s great!”, then I might take notice.
I have no clue who those previous occupants were, but they apparently went to So and So’s House o’ Seafood and enjoyed it. They had a good experience; such a good experience that they were compelled to leave a note for the next anonymous occupant.
Word of mouth. Even anonymous word of mouth works. For some reason, I trust these people, whomever they are. I just know one thing: they were vacationers, just like I am.
Be creative. Find ways to cut through the clutter both on and off-line. Run your business so well that people talk about you. In this case it’s more about how you do business, than how you market your business.
It’s not a matter of who can shout the loudest, but who can create the most relevant content, and who can generate the best word of mouth. Then the marketing takes care of itself.
What kind of content are you creating? In an incredibly cluttered environment, how are you making sure you are getting a lot of positive word of mouth?
Related articles
- The Power of One Connection: How Word of Mouth Works Online (inklingmedia.net)
- WTF? Friday: Social Media: Is it Better to do it Badly than Not at All? (marijeanjaggers.com)
- Small Business Tip Tuesday: Just Speak Up and Ask! (inklingmedia.net)
- The New Face of SEO (inklingmedia.net)
[...] decided to talk about the concept of inbound marketing and how our job as businesses is to “get found” online. And while we want to get found, we do need to make sure we’re doing it in an appropriate [...]
[...] decided to talk about the concept of inbound marketing and how our job as businesses is to “get found” online. And while we want to get found, we do need to make sure we’re doing it in an appropriate way. We [...]