At Bonfire we try to meet a lot of people. Marketing companies, business owners, executives and just ordinary people. We love talking about marketing and the unprecedented change we are seeing in the industry world today. Communication has not seen this kind of change since the birth of the telephone and with change comes a flood of questions. Some great questions that we have been fielding:

1. What is the big deal with Social Media?
2. How has Google changed business?
3. Why would I want to get my business involved?
4. What if someone says something bad about my business?
5. How do I communicate and market to my customers?

We will attempt to answer these questions as clearly as possible below

• What is the big deal with Social Media?
  • Very simply, social media allows your company to directly communicate with your target market. Never in history have there been so many tools to quantify and measure a customer. Social media has the ability to change the way your company operates if you let it, but at the very least it will make your company’s culture more prevalent to your customers. This can be a little scary to think about at first, but your company must always remember something my father taught me early, “no one will ever buy anything from you if they do not like you.” So don’t be afraid to have fun and make your business more human. I am sure you will find it rewarding and will embolden some of your best customers to purchase.
• How has Google changed business?
  • Many blame Walmart for killing the local business, but I believe Google has put more small companies out of business (or close to it). When you can find any product you are looking for within fractions of a second and compare the price and reputation of the seller, why would you ever pay more (sometimes a lot more) at your local retailer? What Google has done is commoditized a majority of all products sold. This really puts retailers against the ropes. Retailers cannot compete on price, so they must learn to add value to products that customers can get online and expand their product breadth through drop shipping arrangements. This is a harsh truth that will only become worse as more of the world gets online and a generation (millennials) that trusts online purchasing becomes more affluent.
• Why would I want to get my business involved?
  • Why wouldn’t you want to talk to your customers, market for less money, become more nimble and develop new strategies before they become obvious? Early activity in social media not only establishes you as a thought leader in your industry, it grants validity to online influencers such as bloggers, power Twitter users and Facebook Mavens. Early adopters such as Dell, Comcast, Visa and Nikon have seen countless free press (including this blog post) that helps SEO (search engine optimization) and grows their company’s brand.
• What if someone says something bad about my business?
  • Your company is not perfect. It will never be perfect. You will never make everyone happy. What you don’t want to do is ignore those that are unhappy. Yes there should be accountability to bloggers that slander, but giving them validity by using lawyers to stop them is a one way ticket to more bad press. And no matter how big a jerk a blogger is or how wrong they are, attacking them will embolden the blogging tribe and only bring on more problems. The best way to diffuse an online problem is by listening, learning and responding very politely. Sounds simple, but it works.
• How do I communicate and market to my customers?
  • First your going to want to talk to someone that actually knows the social norms in the most popular social networks. This could be your kids, a friend or a good social marketing expert. There are wrong ways to communicate and correct ways to market at appropriate times. Think of it this way; (and if your are a social media expert reading this, sorry for the cliche) social networks are a highly conversational cocktail party. Its been our experience that the most interesting people at parties do a lot of listening. They want to know what is going on in your world before talking about theirs. There is a major lesson in this for businesses. No body want to hear about your new widget that will change the world the first time they talk to you. They sure as hell won’t stay tuned in for the long run if a conversation is started this way. So the best approach is to learn how to listen by using filters (rss, keywords) and always try to add value to a conversation by providing content, value or friendship.

We hope this has helped give a little insight to some of the changes that are rapidly changing our world. By being ahead of the curve, becoming a thought leader and adding credibility to your brand your company will thrive in any business climate.