Category Archives: social networking
Social Networking… for the Middle-Aged
So what gives me the credibility to write on social networking? Because our business at Entrust is completely dependent on social media for leads, referrals and education.
by Glen Mather
I have a guilty secret that must be divulged before I launch into this discussion… I have never been on Facebook or Twitter, although my company is involved in each. The closest I have been to electronic social networking is to post some information on “Linked-in” as I was told it was a great way to meet and establish new business relationships.
So what gives me the credibility to write on social networking? Because our business at Entrust is completely dependent on social media for leads, referrals and education.
The phenomenon of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Linked in, and hundreds of lesser known relatives of these sites have been labeled “Social Networking”. The power of having millions of potential clients eager and ready to snap up your products and services – all at very little marketing cost to you is seductive and alluring. Especially if what you are offering is attractive to those that frequent the social networking sites.
Since we opened our Entrust office here in Florida more than seven years ago, our client base has grown through social networking – the old fashioned, “off-line” version. Our clients seem to prefer it that way. Educational events, membership in local real estate clubs, chambers of commerce, the Florida association of Realtors, the Florida Institute of CPAs, the Florida Bar Association and many other boards, memberships and associations throughout our territory provide a strong source of potential leads for Self-Directed IRAs.
In order to sharpen our marketing focus, we did some analysis of our existing customer base.
We discovered that our average client was 40-60 years old, still working, and had a considerable amount in an IRA or 401(k) plan. They were independent thinkers, very interested in real estate and fed up with the stock market. We did some further analysis on who uses the social media websites – and found that although many use Facebook – most did so only to follow friends and classmates.
So, naturally, in order to be more forward thinking and utilize all the relatively inexpensive marketing tools at our disposal, we have added Facebook to our arsenal. I was instructed that it would take a commitment of at least one hour per day in order to start to get the positive, continued results from the users – and that commitment had to be made by the CEO – me. Now achieving that level of time has been difficult, and quite frankly, I haven’t fully stepped up to the task.
But as I attended a recent social networking conference, feverishly scribbling notes on the psychographics of users, the language of the social media user, and the process of updating posts – it brought to mind the true importance of social networking which has nothing to do with the internet;
people need to be engaged before they buy.
Every event we do, every phone call I take, each expo where we engage the public and every e-mail we dash off – each is a critical step in building our prospect’s confidence in us and Entrust. Moment by moment, people are consciously or unconsciously measuring their desire to be associated with us and our company. Our preparation for the meeting or the event, or even the phone call is critical – and our knowledge of the potential customer, and more importantly, the customer’s needs are necessary if we want a long term-relationship to develop.
Many companies have elbowed their way to the front of the social networking technology line – with the latest tools, techniques and bandwidth-intensive marketing campaigns, while other have shuffled their way forward with an occasional “twitter” update from their marketing intern. We at Entrust have decided to refocus on our existing client base and as such have customized a new customer-centric processing platform for all of our clients who buy non-traditional assets in their IRAs.
After all, without an internal view on process and communication improvements with your existing clients – how can any type of social networking – either electronic or “old-school” have a positive result? The danger of having a poor outcome with an existing client – with the megaphone of the internet and social networking outlets, should cause everyone to revisit their core business and customer relationship systems.
The growth of the new social networking, especially with our middle-aged clients, has reminded us of our duty to continually improve the delivery of our service, then give our clients the ability to share their experience through testimonials, client mixers and other media. Whether our network of relationships are simply a click away, or a 30 minute car ride from our office, the same basic rules apply -
Recommendations come from relationships, and relationships come from the respect earned through superior service.
Turns out that the concept isn’t so new after all.
