I’m going to be leading a panel on how to sell social media at the Social Media Club, Louisville chapter on February 19th. My focus will be on selling social media to clients. This can sometimes be a tricky matter. You’ll hear things like this from prospective clients (my witty suggested thoughts in parentheses. Make sure that the person you’re attempting to sell to has a sense of humor. π ):
Really though, when I’m selling social media, I try to explain what social media is, how it breaks down, and where is a best fit for me to offer consulting for them. Also, I make sure they understand the closely fitting areas of community management and reputation management.
If you’re in the Louisville area, stop on in. I won’t disappoint π (Hint: I’ll be asking for a volunteer).
What type of contract do your enter upon, or how to your scale out your pricing?
Thanks,
mike b.
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The headline of this post implies that it will contain tips and information about “How to Sell Social Media.” but it’s just an promo for your talk (where I’m sure you will go into it in full detail). Please post notes and tips from your talk when you have the time – I would be interested in what you have to say on it but I can’t make it to Louisville for the meeting π
@SearchBuzz:
Contract and pricing varies based on what the client is looking for. This is a much longer discussion that would be more specific and not really meant for the comment thread. Please do drop a me line though π
@BrettFromTibet:
Well, I offered up some suggested humorous responses to what clients will ask and a few other points, but this proves the effectiveness of powerful titles. I’ll post a follow up after we have some fun at the meeting. (We’ll save you a seat if you change your mind) π
I might not know how to describe what social media, but I know it when it see it!
Yeah, that kind of thing.
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It’s hard to “sell” social media to clients, I would suspect, because it’s not really quantifiable. Do you have a case study of a previous client and what you’ve done with social media for them?
I always thought the IT department was in charge of social media…silly me.
@Mark Dykeman – knowing it when you see it is a step ahead of the game.
@David Deangelo – there are methods to measure social media as quantifiable, perhaps just not in the way you may be thinking. So to that extent, case studies can be made.
@Todd Mintz – sadly, the IT department left to not be in charge of very much.
This would be content to broadcast on You Tube or as a podcast. You guys thought about that?
I don’t care if it’s just a promo for the Louisville talk, that was one funny post with some genuine insight.
@haven’t learned yet:
Might be fun to have on YouTube or podcast. Anyone else interested in seeing this?
@Fat Lester
Right on. It’s better than if I were to drone on about the event. This is called value add, people! And you’re welcome! π
I tend to think that the best way to sell social media is with a story. You start with the business scenario, talk about the creation of linkbait at the start, what multitude of channels was used, which hit, how we knew it, etc. And then of course how it was monetized… my go-to story usually doesn’t raise eyebrows until I share three core metrics: pageviews, ad clicks (we were using Adsense), and dollars earned.
You gotta convey the excitement of the viral explosion…we all know what it’s like, but if we can’t paint that picture in the client’s eyes it becomes really hard to sell social media.
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@Paul Burani: a good consultant in any industry should be an expert storyteller. And yes, you need to get people excited about things going viral. Many probably have an idea of what going viral means, but that’s far different from seeing what things actually translate to.
I’d like to see a youtube video Brian – make it funny and show us your viral marketing skills π
Love to see some case studies. I think many of your readers would!
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