Several weeks ago at my Dun & Bradstreet blog, I put out a call, a request, for folks who are using Facebook (or other social networks) successfully and driving new business, new sales.
I did not think I would get a ton of response, but I did. There were several dozen responses of business owners and sales execs pointing to their new Facebook Group or Page. Many companies provided details of how Facebook had helped their restaurant, their startup, their membership.
Three of my favorites:
Parenting Young Girls, sponsored by Dot Girl Products, for taking an approach to helping young girls and Moms through a challenging time.
Eric Wolf and his work with The Art of Storytelling with Children.
Jamie Tedford's work with Atlantis WeatherGear.
Okay, I can't add -- but here's a fourth one that I really liked because they created events and promotions that drove people to sign up. Yes, it was for a wine tasting, which is often popular, but it worked.
La Fonda Del Sol.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Many small and large business owners and executives think that all this social media craze will pass. Some of these same people thought the "internet" craze would pass, too. And why on earth would someone need a webpage... You get my point.
Do I love everything about Facebook and social networks? No. They are free in that they don't charge you a monthly fee, but they are far from free in the amount of time they take to manage and grow. But it is hard to ignore that people are using it to drive awareness and actual sales.
If you have a story about your Facebook success, please leave your email in the comments and I'll get back to you right away.
TJ McCue is the lead content guy at Q4 Sales and an investor in Online Scheduling and Workforce Management Software by Shiftboard. He is passionate about creating strategic content for demand generation and actively researching ways to incorporate traditional marketing (telemarketing, appointment setting, email, direct mail) into new media marketing. He is at work on an educational portal around appointment setting. His blog about online marketing profiles some of these Facebook successes. He will continue to blog about the intersection of Sales & Social Media here at Soundoff.
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