The Marketing Plaza

Social media, like Marketing, never lets you rest on your laurels. No matter how expert one may be in a medium or field, changes require constant updating, relearning, and re-honing of skills. And yet, the basics always remain the same. Yes, it’s always Back to the Future, or this week Back to the Facebook.

On Friday, March 30, 2012 Facebook is forceably changing all business sites over to its new format. The change has been a boon for the webinar industry, with every social media consultant offering tutorials on how to switch a site from the old to new format. So for all of us who believed we had mastered Facebook and were on to Pinterest, Tumblr, Wanelo, or Spotify, it was, instead, of week of back to the drawing boards on Facebook.

Back to the drawing boards must be taken literally as a key change in Facebook was the need to create a cover. Yes, all of our mothers advised us not to judge a book by its cover, but our marketing professors taught just the opposite. Packaging, aka covers, is a key marketing component, without which success is less likely in the marketplace of goods, services or ideas.  Consultants were proliferating on how to create a cover that best represents your company when Facebook rules exempt most items a classic marketer would include — namely contact info and Calls to Action.  ”The cover photo is the new landing experience,” states the SocialMouths blog.  I think experience is taking it a bit far, as it’s really a pretty picture indicative of our increasingly graphic age where people seem dazzled by image rather than substance.

Speaking of serious marketing – Facebook should, in many cases, be part of the mix, but let’s stay focused on marketing that works. In a recent sales seminar given by Mike Blinder, he unequivocally noted that for most small businesses Facebook is like a billboard in a basement. There’s tons of hype and, therefore, a strong sense that a business owner should somehow be involved in this Facebook thing, but with 25-125 followers, largely of relatives and friends, the marketing potential is limited. Blinder (pronounced Blyn-der), doesn’t wear blinders.  He calls himself a street fighter and is one of the most motivational, clear sales trainers I’ve ever heard.  As a street fighter, he believes in qualifying prospects, having a clear story to tell, doing homework on a client, and closing sales. Anything that helps him do that more successfully is marketing, but his marketing is his story of success. There’s no better kind.

There are exceptions to any rule, and Facebook marketing does have its place for some entrepreneurs– namely realtors.  Many, if not most, are women, who thrive on personal connections and local contacts.  Facebook has evolved from a teenage silo with as many moms and a growing number of grandparents Facebooking to keep up with the kids, if nothing else.  I get personal pleasure on watching my own young adult kids suddenly delving into my professional arenas on Twitter and LInked In.  If you’re talking business to business contacts, these latter two have much more to offer.

So lets Facebook the facts. Facebook was not started to be a marketing tool, but a social interaction tool. If you’re young, single and on the “meat ” market, yes it might help you market yourself.  If you’re a serious, committed entrepreneur or small business owner, it’s really the minor leagues.  The majors are playing in larger arenas, to bigger crowds (called reach), and on a consistent basis (called frequency).  They are packaging themselves as serious players, commanding well-deserved prices, and have followings that many Twitter and Facebook dabblers would crave.  Find them, and watch what they’re doing. They are your true North stars.