If social media marketing is boiled down to its essence; if it were expressed in one word, it would be relationship, more succinctly, and at it’s most effective, “friendship.” This word is scary for a lot of small businesses, maybe not on the outset, but the concept of making friends with your prospects is not normal, and seems contrary to “business.”
Friendship Marketing. Sounds like an oxymoron, and that’s a shame. We shouldn’t treat our friends with one set of rules, then abandon our scruples for selling to the masses. The world of today won’t tolerate such. In the world of permission marketing, the customer demands respect, and will get it from someone else if we refuse to oblige. It’s time to treat our prospects as we would treat our friends.
When it comes to social media marketing, the way to build a tribe is quite unconventional. It requires that we let down our guard, that we offer our open, real selves, that we relate with people as individuals, rather than grouping them into target markets. We have to make nice and make friends with those we wish to influence online.
I’ve copied the following list from an article on The Friendship Cafe by Ernie Zelenski. I think it’s time we close our business sales books, and prepare our minds for the new day of friendship-driven marketing.
1. What makes a good friend is someone whom you respect and who respects you.
2. What makes a good friend is someone whom you can trust and who can trust you (and don’t try to fool yourself on this element if you have a habit of always showing up late or not keeping agreements with others – even the small agreements, because small agreements are just as important as the big ones.)
3. What makes a good friend is someone who is there when things are tough for you.
4. What makes a good friend is someone who will stand up for you when others are putting you down.
5. What makes a good friend is someone who is proud to hang with you and doesn’t walk away when someone more interesting happens to show up.
6. What makes a good friend is someone who doesn’t get mad at you easily and yet will call you on your bull– when it is right to do so.
7. What makes a good friend is somone who if they know that being on time is important to you, shows up on time — all the time with no excuses ever. We live in a society where excuses, 99 percent of which are lies, are used all the time to cover up shortcomings. Don’t be one of these people who uses these excuses and you will be a much better friend to all your friends.
Excerpted from Life’s Secret Handbook for Having Great Friends.
So now that we’ve examined what makes a good friend in real life, let’s see how this translates to social media. Here’s a list of ways to be a good friend in the world of social media. If you fail to do these things, then you will be considered a dud and you won’t get far at all. Don’t be a dud!
