Recently, while attending the Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association annual meeting, I had the opportunity to hear Sabrina Sebastian, marketing and media manager for Fastline Publications, discuss social media.
She does an excellent job of making a complex topic seem a little more manageable, and I would like to give her credit for most of the ideas contained in this post.
It is impressive to hear the statistics on whom and how many are currently using social media. For instance, more than 400 million people log on to Facebook every day, and the average user spends 55 minutes per day on the site. In fact, if Facebook were a country, it would be the fourth largest! Consider that more than 2 billion (yes billion with a “B”) videos are viewed on YouTube every single day. And, there are many more surprising statistics, but suffice it to say that social media is a big deal. Just ask the 106 million Twitter users, of which 37 percent use mobile phones to tweet.
Intrigued yet? Well, consider some of the ways businesses are using social media to make money. Yes, that’s right—to make money—such as promoting the business or brand, offering specials to loyal customers and announcing new products or services. The great thing about promoting products through social media is that you can make it personal.
Social media can also be effective in educating customers. For instance, “how-to” videos are inexpensive and can easily be posted on YouTube. Posting “Top 5” or “Top 10” lists of products, brands or services can certainly be a fun way to provide information about your business. And seminars can be offered covering a plethora of topics. There are, of course, infinite ways of sharing information, such as straightforward or entertaining.
Another way social media can be used is to offer recognition to employees or discuss community events your business may be promoting. Letting people know about awards the company or employees have received helps build recognition and credibility, and can speak volumes on behalf of your business.
Customer participation through social media can also help gather information. For instance, you can conduct a focus group or quick survey about products or services you offer. What a great tool for “connecting” on a more consistent basis. Put up a blog to offer your ideas and opinions while garnering participation and valuable feedback from current and potential customers.
What about the equipment industry specifically? More than 50 percent of large corn and soybean farmers use social media, according to Sabrina’s statistics. In a recent survey of farmers, 48 percent indicated they texted five times or more PER DAY. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed also transmitted photos via their smartphones!
Convinced to at least try it? Well, this is the point where I would tell you that social media is not without its challenges and work to make it successful. Just like anything else you do in your business, it starts with a vision and a goal, and then the practical tactics to execute. What is your vision; what do you hope to accomplish through the use of social media?
A good set of policies and procedures always helps; concepts like being professional, providing boundaries for use by employees, and what happens if you receive some unwanted criticism from a disgruntled customer, etc. In other words, cover the bases ahead of time, and think through how you want to engage in social media and what face you want to present.
Starting out, you will probably need to assign a point person in your business to be responsible for the use, content, maintenance and implementation of your social media plan. It could be a person on staff or an intern from the local FFA chapter or 4-H club. Like any other part of your business, it will take focus, commitment and knowledge to have a chance of being successful and sustainable.
I have never been a “bleeding edge” kind of person when it comes to technology. However, after listening to Sabrina on more than one occasion and trying some of this at NAEDA, I have come to the conclusion that being on or near the “leading edge” can be profitable for a business. My only purpose today is to simply whet your appetite for considering trying social media. We have a Twitter account at NAEDA. Do you tweet, as well? And that’s the way I see it.
PAUL KINDINGER is president/CEO of the North American Equipment Dealers Association. The association provides educational, legal, legislative and financial services to approximately 5,500 retail agricultural, construction, large property/rural lifestyle and outdoor power equipment dealers in the United States and Canada.