They asked, "Do you Facebook?" I said no, (ok I fibbed, I am on it, I use it to stalk my wife, it saves having a conversation later) Joke, hunny!
They said this would be an eye opening webinar, that Facebook was a sales tool in disguise, that sales people could build better relationships, reach new clients and drive sales. I was intrigued because - and I will be honest - I dislike Facebook. But as always, I was receptive to be be converted, so I allocated an hour of my time to revisit and maybe discover this potential.
I wasn't converted and for 24 hours I struggled to understand why. I understood the privacy settings, the creation of groups and how you can feed different messages to different parts of your network. I get that, much like Google+.
My conclusion was that it must be more than just one thing, so here are three.
1) The webinar was run by a marketeer. Nothing wrong with that of course. But the conversation revolved around demonstrations of what brands were doing. Not what or how an individual sales person could benefit.
2) I have yet to hear someone in a B2B environment say, "Hello C'suite, will you be my friend on Facebook?". Even rephrasing it to, "Join my network on Facebook" doesn't sound right.
3) With other platforms that I use for business, engagement and relationship building can't I just have one place that is mine where I can relax, chill out and - if I feel the need to just talk rubbish - I can? Yes, I know you can separate by using the groups, but it just means they're in the room next door.
So here's my question? Can I convince you, the sales person, that Facebook is not the place for connecting with your clients?
Twitter - Business Networking on Steroids!
(also written from a Brand perspective just to be fair)
- 79 percent of Twitter followers (versus 60 percent of Facebook fans) are more likely to recommend brands since becoming a fan or follower.
- 67 percent of Twitter followers (versus 51 percent of Facebook fans) are more likely to buy the brands they follow.
- Facebook's shared links average three clicks, while Twitter's tweets generate nineteen clicks on average
more?.... ok...
- Twitter users generated double the median monthly leads of non-Twitter users.
- Consumers active on Twitter are three times more likely to affect a brand's online reputation through syndicated Tweets, blog posts, articles and product reviews.
- 20 percent of consumers indicate they have followed a brand on Twitter in order to interact with the company - more than e-mail subscribers or Facebook fans.
If that doesn't sway you, then there is always LinkedIn - where it does feel right to say "Join my network of business professionals.;"
See my LinkedIn posts
Statistic credits to
http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-destroys-facebook-2010-12
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007639
http://www.exacttarget.com/