So, my friend Ben Muldrow from South Carolina Facebook chatted with me this evening about the upcoming National Main Streets Conference in Chicago – and the Facebook phenomenon that will be all the buzz at this year's conference. (By the way, you can check Ben and his compadres out at three different sessions at this year's conference…I'd highly recommend them. They are smart and always have insightful things to say. Plus they are sometimes funny – which is helpful during the long conferences.)
Long story short… I thought you'd enjoy an insider's peak into our Facebook chat, so here goes:
10:06 pm Marianna:
yes. authentically, really talking.
not posing or interrupting via yet another new and marvelous
media
exactly
common sense
ok, let me ask you a question
let's say you become friends with a business on facebook
10:09pm Marianna:
friends or join a group or become a fan?
10:09pmBen:
hmmmm
if you are a fan, can the business see your profile info?
10:09pm Marianna:
yes.
10:10pmBen:
ok, either way, You decide to say you like a business
Business owner looks on your profile
finds out you have a new baby
sends you some things they think might be good for new baby
proactive or creepy?
10:11pmMarianna:
well, let me ask you a question:
i live in a small town. i know everyone. i own a business.
a socially connected chick has a baby.
i send her a great gift, wrapped to the 9s, handwritten gift
card from the business with names of the folks she'll see when she walks in the
door written on card.
what does she do next?
10:13pmBen:
the difference is the connections are human connections
instead of electronic connections
you can't answer my question with a question
I am not a jedi
earn your d*** diva status and answer my question
10:13pmMarianna:
the answer is that she runs and tells all of her friends and
is blown away and thrilled. doesn't matter if she doesn't really know the store
owner well or not. she's thrilled. it's memorable. it's a remarkable, viral marketing tactic.
FB is even easier… because the person had to actually opt
IN to the relationship with the business in order for them to know about the
baby. And Facebook is just Relationships 2.0 IF DONE CORRECTLY.
10:15pmMarianna:
Businesses
doing things right means using the tools customers want them to use, the way that they
use them – not the way the store owner understands them. That is
still relationship building with customers – made more efficient by technology. (Editor's Note: This line stems from my 2007 speech on marketing to Generation Y that I debuted at the 2007 National Main Streets Conference in Seattle. It still applies – more today than ever.)
10:20pmBen
I think technology is good,
but I think we are moving closer and closer to a real backlash
10:20pmMarianna
well, that's why we have to keep it real. and yes, it will
NOT last forever.
and it may not last much longer b/c it's becoming saturated
quickly…
BUT its got a little more energy left in it before some
other things work better – and I think if my small business clients can get to know some new
customers better through Facebook in the next few months, that's golden.
we don't do the same marketing tricks we did 5 years ago, a year
ago… it's a changing game. I've already started telling folks to play hard
now or just skip it. Being late to the party in today's world means
missing it altogether.
