Social Media Strategy Minus Human Engagement = Business Fail

Last night I went to my daughter’s first Freshman Chorus concert. Of course, my little girl’s voice stood out among the pack, but the beautiful sound of angelic voices blending perfectly together was wonderfully soothing and enjoyable, even though the majority of the songs they were singing were remarkably antiquated and, in my opinion, emotionally sterile. As a musician myself, I am admittedly a bit of a snob, but this was more about a lack of connection with and passion for what the songs were about. Each selection, including the big finale splattered with corny unison hand claps in what I guess was an attempt to display enthusiasm, left me disappointed for my daughter’s personal musical progression. Afterward we discussed the differences between singing well and singing with a passionate desperation from the depth of your soul. This is a perpetual rant for me, and one my family is probably exhausted with. But every time we sit through an American Idol show, or hear another sticky sweet pop song on the radio, or encounter anything else that pits passion against perfection, I can see that they get it, and that’s important to me as their father. If there is one thing I most want my children to carry with them throughout their lives, it is an intrinsic understanding that the pursuit of their passion is primary and that without it they will not only never be completely content, but they will also fall short of giving the world their very best.

At this juncture you are probably wondering what any of this has to do with the title of this post. Don’t worry. I didn’t use the title to lure you here to listen to me rant about musical integrity and passion, or how proud I am of my children. The point is this: whether it’s your own personal endeavors, or your business pursuits, or your new social media strategy, I believe you can only get so far on just doing it well. Without real, personal, passionate human interaction, your end result will always be limited.

Keep in mind that I do not consider myself an “expert” in social media by a long shot. I have had some success, but I have only been using social media since late March of this year. So I am only drawing on my own social media and life experiences to come to these conclusions. Still, I have some insight that I believe provides a solid foundation for this thought process.

Recently I have taken on the task of social media management for some of my clients. This means that I have set up their accounts on various networks and have initiated strategies to get them connected with potential customers. Of course, at the end of the day the client wants to see measurable results:

»   Are people clicking on my links?

»   Is traffic to my website increasing?

»   As traffic increases, are sales increasing?

This is the simplified expected progression I am seeing businesses of all sizes adopt as they dive into what they see as the potential gold mine of social media. Unfortunately, the most difficult concept for people to grasp is the most glaringly obvious missing element from this equation: human engagement.

Build a website, giving 24-hour access to your product and/or business. Hire someone or personally set out to grow your social media following. Drive traffic to your website. All of this should equate to increased sales, right?

Wrong.

First and foremost, if what you’re selling isn’t selling offline, what makes you think it will sell online? Second, just because more people are visiting your website, why should that translate to more sales? Third, if your increased site visitors are interested in your product, and somehow have decided to consider buying it from you instead of anywhere or anyone else, but they are unable to come into contact with a live human being before purchase, what do you think the odds are that they will finalize the deal?

When my older daughter’s A/C stopped working a few weeks ago, we took her car into a local repair shop. After she paid $130 to retrofit the A/C, we drove away expecting cold air to blow strongly from the vents. Never happened. We took it back in, only to find out that now it needed a new compressor, to the tune of $600! Needless to say, we began calling around and through a Twitter friend’s recommendation found a mechanic that would perform the same service for about $250. This gentleman was incredibly friendly, honest and caring on the phone, as opposed to the strictly business attitude of the previous organization. Even if he was charging the same exorbitant price, guess who we would choose?

I am capable of growing a social media following quickly, with quality, relevant followers and friends who have similar interests as you or your organization. I can increase and drive traffic to your website using social media almost overnight. Recently I grew a client’s Twitter followers to 250 in 5 days, without using any automation and without following ridiculously large amounts of people in hopes of a portion of them following back. These followers were people who’s bios, hashtags and tweets were deemed relevant to the client’s business. The traffic statistics for this client’s website increased dramatically, reaching 7-10 times their previous numbers. But at the end of the first week, the client was left wondering why they saw no increase in sales.

What is missing from the picture? I believe what’s missing is a human being who communicates a real passion for their product and connecting people with it. Not just for the income, but because they believe what they have to offer will genuinely make the customer’s life better. How many times have you chosen to buy something from someone or to frequent an establishment because of a genuinely friendly or passionate customer service representative?

Ironically, I am passionate about connecting with people through social media, and helping others to do the same. I have grown my own following relatively successfully over the past months, but in the end I never really set out to grow a following. My social media “strategy”, if you will, has been to connect with others with similar interests in hopes of education, interaction, sharing knowledge and experience, and, of course, increasing my exposure to potential clients. Every single one of these things is happening, and most far beyond my initial expectations. This leads me to believe that human engagement is not only vital to the success of a business or individual’s social media strategy, but the lack of it could prove to be fatal. At the very least, it is a major business fail.

At the end of a trail of links and blog posts and sales pitches and ecommerce checkout pages, if there is not some element of human contact, will you make the purchase for which the business has invested in social media? Or would you even consider visiting their site without first at least chatting with a representative via phone, Twitter or Facebook or wherever you found them and getting some kind of connection with a genuinely passionate person that helps you feel like more than a targeted demographic?

I would love to hear your thoughts…