“My Customers Aren’t On Social Media!”

In my role as a Social Media Strategist, I often speak to groups of business owners from a variety of different industries, as well as one-on-one with clients who wish to consult with me regarding putting social media to use in their business.

Invariably when I’m out speaking about social media, I will have someone make a statement such as: “This all sounds great, Caroline, but I’m in the ________________________ industry; my customers aren’t on social media!”

Now I’m not going to tell you that I’ve researched every possible industry out there, but I’ve looked at a lot of them.  With Facebook having over 500,000,000 members, it’s likely that there’s someone from every industry imaginable out there.

One day I was meeting with a director of marketing for a large commercial construction firm, and he told me that his customers “were old guys with white hair who don’t hang out on social media.”  I asked him if they did hang out on Google, to which he replied, “of course!”  I explained the connection between social media and search engine optimization, which helped him understand the importance of getting a strategic social media plan in place.

I wish I’d had this video from AARP to share with him about the participation of people 50 years of age and older on social media sites – they’ve done a great job of explaining how customers of every age and every industry are using social media to find the products and services they are looking for:

It’s not about the technology; social media represents a fundamental shift in the way people are communicating, learning, referring, sharing and making buying decisions. If you think your customers aren’t on social media – think again.

Caroline Melberg, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization & Social Media Strategist

Published on: February 23, 2011