The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success, 3rd Edition

Why Social Media?

The reason social media is so much more effective than the conventional marketing that we’ve done for the last 6,000 years is that it’s two-way communication, not pontification. Since we’ve been selling goats in the desert, we would stand on a rock and shout out the features and benefits of owning a goat. And, if we chose our words correctly and hit enough of the audience’s psychological hot buttons, our prospect would become a customer. Nothing has changed in 6,000 years. Until now.

There is what I call “A Fundamental Shift in Power.” It’s a shift from pontification to two-way communication and it’s a shift about which we no longer control our corporate message. No longer does the consumer trust corporate messages. They don’t trust and don’t want to hear our commercials any longer. They want their information from people they know, have a relationship with, and share a bond with through trust. They want to be educated by, hear their news from, and get their product reviews by people they know and trust. They want to share their experiences, both good and bad, with people who trust them.

With this Fundamental Shift comes a new way to communicate. The new way to sell is not to sell at all. In fact, if you use social media to sell, you will get flamed. Social media marketing is all about listening first, understanding the conversation, and speaking last.

Social media marketing is like going to a networking event, a party, a trade show, sporting event, church, or ...