Social Networking Co-Authored Series: Creating A Brand Through Social Media Without Selling

Penny Power, co-founder of Ecademy, author and visionary and Andrew Ballenthin, founder of the Community Marketing Blog and President of Sol Solutions an Integrated Marketing Consultancy have teamed up for a series of articles under the theme of "Dialogue From The Head And The Heart on Social Networking".

Their goal is to assist professionals in removing the hype and misinformation around the application of social networks which prevents many organizations from starting and making effective use of today's communication revolution. Both authors will share a complimentary perspective on the steps that make all of this possible and take you on a journey of discovery and application that just may change the way you see the world of social networking.

Article: Creating A Brand Through Social Networking Without Selling

Part 1: Dialogue From The Heart, By Penny Power

The Difference Between Small Business Selling And Corporate Promoting
One thing that I have learned over 11 years of serving a Small Business Community is that people who build their own businesses sell in a very different way to those that work for large companies and are placed in the ‘sales department’.

The luxury of focusing on sales is purely that, a luxury, for a self employed or small business. Many find selling incredibly difficult and therefore build relationships and instead of selling have built their business through advocacy, repeat business, collaboration and viral marketing. So what can this teach the corporate world?

The way that individuals build their brand is based on trust, contribution, support, likeability and conversation. The ability to ‘broadcast’ a message on TV, Radio and in the National Press is out of reach financially for small business, so for over ten years I have seen the most amazing businesses grow and grow thanks to conversation after conversation inside social networks.

Recently I was in a meeting with BlackBerry in the UK, excited to hear some of their thoughts on the subject of social networking. We discussed the area of Blogging and whether it is best to blog about a product and therefore attract existing fans or critics to their blog, or whether it was beter to be embedded in a community and be part of the conversation. I tested their thinking by asking the question, 'would you also comment on a blog that someone in your community talked about their experience of discovering they had cancer?" This seemed like an unusual question. Consider this however, if you are only one dimensional in your communication, you basically give out the feeling that you are only interested in money and personal gain. 'Selling' is about much more than this, and now that we're all connected, transparent and seen  in all lights, perhaps the people and their intentions behind the sales message is more important than what they are selling to build trust.

Blatant Selling - is a sin?
What trial and error has taught these lean, mean fighting machines is that it is actually a sin to sell inside communities online. Selling is taboo, to sell to someone does not create interest or trust as it places the transaction at the front of the relationship and makes the relationship to hard to create as a result.

Trust is king, and trust is only earned at an individual level, brands are great, they reflect values and emotion, they tell a story of what the brand stands for and what they contribute. Successful brands have created strap lines ‘take a beak’, ‘Just do-it’. These appeal to the audience as they are a statement. ‘I deserve a break’, ‘ OK, I know I should just do it and get fit’. Brands also tell us whether the company cares or whether it is share holder value that matters above all else.

So selling inside Social Media, NO, NO, NO, don’t do it. Publish, share, support, be open, be random, be supportive. Be Known for what you stand for, be liked for who you help, be followed because you are respected. This is selling now, but the sales are the bi-product of who you are and what you contribute. What a great world to be part of, I am loving it!

Part 2: Dialogue From The Head, By Andrew Ballenthin

One of the campaigns I admire most in 2009 is Unilever’s Canadian social network, Dove: Campaign For Real Beauty. It has a great number of lessons that individual business owners and multi-nationals can learn from.

What Makes The "Campaign For Real Beauty" Different?
Unilever is present in over 80 countries and in 2008 had over $61 billion USD in sales. For any business that commands a respectable “Wow” if you didn’t know that data. But what is more impressive from a marketing standpoint, is that within the Unliver family, is Dove’s continual drive to understand what women really want and understand the depths of how woman across the world see themselves. What makes this giant different, especially in this specific campaign, is that Unliver and Dove get it, it’s about their customer and their issues, not just asking for a sale. That’s deep and that’s what any sized brand should be about.

Be Tireless In Finding Out What Your Customers Want
According to the Center for Management Research, Dove has been asking the question for 5 years, “What are women’s perception to beauty and well-being”. By asking this question of thousand’s of women across multiple countries they’ve gained insight into what’s in it for the customer. It’s undeniably that understanding this question will help them sell more product but it also enabled them to give back to their community without having their selling message turned on.

Taking A Peak At How Giving Builds A Better Brand
2 years ago The Campaign For Real Beauty would have never existed as part of a marketing campaign, brand building or even a call to create community involvement in this manner. Why? Because this form of communication is not about selling, it’s about building relationships between the customers and the brand. A critical mind won’t relinquish the fact that Dove needs to sell but what’s wrong with that? Selling equals economic health, jobs, and supplying customers with something they want. Selling is good in the right place at the right time but not in the middle of your social networking activities.

Dove get’s it as a brand and the evidence is in the questions and dialogues in their Share Your Views section like; “She thinks she’s fat. Let’s tell her she’s wrong”, “What does self-esteem mean to you?”, “An honest chat about aging”. In these sections you’ll find pages upon pages of women sharing and talking and collaborating about their real issues… no sales going on here, just people being real around real issues.

If you’re the cynical type and looking for the sales pitch on the site, well this is it, “Everyone Can Play A Role – Get Involved in building self-esteem”. The thrust of their fund raising is for inviting “you to play a role in supporting and promoting a wider definition of beauty”.

Again, another respectable “Wow” should be on the edge of your thoughts. How many women of all ages, countries and lifestyle have suffered under the imposed vision of perfection that the beauty industry demands. While Unilever and Dove can not be abdicated in their present and past roles for being part of that problem they are also doing what good corporate/businesses should do, working toward  a future change without abdicating responsibility.

How Do These Ideas Apply To Your Company?
Social networks like Ecademy and LinkedIn and many others provide the infrastructure to an organization so they don’t have to go out and build a site like “Campaign For Real Beauty”. By becoming involved with group discussions, posting blogs or news articles, reaching out and networking with others the infrastructure is all there to set in motion your brand building. HOWEVER, as we saw with Dove, it’s about reaching out to a greater, deeper and more pressing need of your customer which will allow you to build your brand’s image, personality and eventually reputation. Within those efforts, as Penny Power advocates, you will find people will come to ‘Know You, Like You, Follow You”.

Comments

[louis Gross]

This one statement is a great wrap up to your fine article "So selling inside Social Media, NO, NO, NO, don’t do it. Publish, share, support, be open, be random, be supportive. Be Known for what you stand for, be liked for who you help, be followed because you are respected. This is selling now, but the sales are the bi-product of who you are and what you contribute. What a great world to be part of, I am loving it!"