In her special report on Twitter, Laura Roeder shares valuable insights to improve your time sending 140-character messages about what you are doing. In particular, I thank her for reminding you that you are losing potential revenue by focusing on forming relationships with customers.
Whether you already have customers or know you need them, there is no denial customers are the backbone for earning revenue. But once you have a customer, they are not going to buy something else from you until and unless they need it. So, while it’s important to engage with your customers and answer their questions, you shouldn’t focus your social media efforts on customer retention. Rather, focus that energy on outreach to connectors.
I am fond of telling companies of all sizes and industries that I am their customer. I say that even if I don’t buy a product, I know someone who will — or that person knows someone else who will. Perhaps I should change my wording in that I am not every company’s customer, but I am every company’s connector.
In this six degrees of separation mantra (which is more like three degrees of separation in 2010), your goal shouldn’t be to find a million potential customers but find a few people who have the networks and the clout to virally spread your message. Your customers are already spreading that message, so you’re wasting time reminding them about it. You’re also wasting time by broadcasting your message to nobody in particular. You should ask connectors to spread your message.
I don’t know who your connectors are, but if you want to contact me about it, I can help you gauge who they might be — and I bet they will likely be the last people you would think of contacting to evangelize for you and the first people you would want to send that next holiday thank you card.
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Great post Ari,
This is definitely a very interesting point and could create some great conversation. I definitely see the logic in this practice and would likely agree for very small organizations where there is a huge limit on time. Maybe finding potential customers and maintaining relationships could be two roles?
My only concern is the fact that a person has bought your product once, does not mean they are some kind of brand evengelist. So you believe that focusing on people who may or may not spread your message should take up more time that creating additional value to the people who have gotten you where you are? I think its a tough call, very situational?
New from Bryan Cromlish: Worst Case: It’s a Deblogle
The connector theory is discussed at length by Gladwell too, but researchers have just demonstrated that hubs may not be quite as important as we once thought – http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24748/