Social Media Marketing Blog

Like others, I’ve been pondering the best way to get new business, or stay in business, in today’s plummeting economy. On a recent walk through the North End neighborhood in Boston it came to me as I passed Mike’s Pastry Shop and saw the crowd stretching out the door at 3pm on a Tuesday. No, it was not that I should be selling cannolis, but perhaps I should model business in a similar fashion to Mike’s. Smart marketing in a recession is about building relationships. Most folks are not ready to buy or hire immediately, but everyone is ready to connect and try the free sample. That’s the secret and the power behind social media marketing. Social media continues to be the most powerful and cost-effective way to reach your customers - or a future employer - at for the next 12 to 18 months.

If your advice and recommendations are delicious enough, business owners and users will follow you and subscribe to your content that hits the spot and fills a need within the perceptual map of their business. Ultimately, your customers and at times individuals with which you have minimal contact but make a big impression will hire you or do business with you. Even now, companies can be extremely selective, hiring only the brightest, quickest, and best for short-term gigs or project work. Make yourself irresistible. Create some delicious content.

Back to the cannolis. They come in many different flavors and colors, some are dipped in chocolate, some covered with chocolate chips. They are blog posts, Facebook updates, and Tweets, all sharing a common trait: that all are made to be delicious and irresistible to those individuals (customers and employers alike) walking past Mike’s or browsing your Facebook or Myspace. Taken together, these “cannolis” comprise the digital footprint for users. Create delicious content and give users a reason to come back and recommend you to friends.