Why Corporations Fail at Social Media Marketing
March 4, 2010 by admin
Filed under Business Management
I’ve never understood “the pitch.” Sure, I’ve been CD for several ad agencies and PR firms. But I’ve never understood “the pitch.”
You show up, you state why you should get “the account” and the prospect tries to blow holes in your “pitch (not in a good way).”
I’ve always been the kind of guy who’d rather have a 100% closure rate. Let me rephrase that. I prefer 100% consumation rates.
I’m the same way at a bar. I never approach women. Sure, it’s a numbers game. But it’s a loosing numbers game. I’d rather invest the time it takes to get rejected 80% of the time and perfect my reputation so that it precedes me. When I walk into my favorite dives and a woman approaches me, I have a 100% (ehem) closure rate.
Instead of showing up and jousting with your prospect and then shadow boxing with several other competitors, I prefer to spend the same amount of time just perfecting my craft. I focus on perfecting my craft to a point where I have no competitors. Prospects suddenly disappear. If they show up on my door step, they are not prospects. They are client-hopefuls. They can’t imagine anyone else providing what they need.
@Mike_FTW is my favorite example of this on Twitter.
He’s the opposite of the guy who shows up and tells you that your dad is a thief (because he stole the sparkle from a star and put it in your eyes). Mike has no agenda. Make has not pitch. He will never have to take the defensive because he is never offensive (ummm…).
His Tweets look like:
Because Mike never tries to sell you anything, you’ve actually gotta go snooping around to figure out what he does for a living, why he has 5,000+ Followers, and why all the post SF dot com execs tweet @Mike_FTW .
If you simply focus on delivering value (humor, knowledge, insight, news, etc…) without being commercial, eventually, you’ll have developed a deep rapport with your follower base. When they need what you sell, you’d better believe they will come to you first. That gives you first right of refusal – and a 100% closure rate (without buying a single Redwood Room $14 Cosmo).
Posted via web from journik’s posterous – a grade A shouldery. (social media agencies / marketing wise)
