A SERIES in the quest to know more about the offline world
Part 1 in A 2-Part Interview with Mack Collier
Recently, I asked Mack Collier. if he’d talk about connecting with new customers. He was more than generous in sharing how the clients he looks for and how he interacts with them. This is part one of that interview with Mack.
Hi Mack, I can tell by what you write that you meet many folks who are just figuring out that the web has something going on. How would you describe the most likely candidate to move toward the Internet these days?
I think the people that are successful in social media moving forward will be the ones that remain curious. This space is just changing so quickly that you have to keep an open mind and be receptive to the changing landscape. The people that write social media off as a ‘fad’ and refuse to learn more about how these tools work are the ones that are really going to be at a disadvantage in the coming years.
What do most new clients ask for your help with? What misconceptions do they bring?
Most are wanting help with blogging. And many are viewing a blog as a more frequently updated website. They want to use the blog to make ‘announcements’ and even view it as something to be search-optimized, as they would a website. Many can tell me what keywords they want targeted in their blog posts, but haven’t given any thoughts to a comment policy. But this is just a byproduct of unfamiliarity with the space.
Where do you usually start them out?
Usually a potential client will start off with “Well I know I need to be blogging…”, and I’ll ask them to back up and explain how they know that. They usually offer that they just assumed that blogging is the logical starting point. So what we’ll do is examine their business goals and see if blogging, or any other social tools, make sense for them. But before they launch any type of social media strategy, I want to get them started monitoring online conversations about their company. To me, monitoring and properly responding to what current and potential customers are saying online about your company, is the natural foundation of any social media strategy.
As companies begin to do this, they become more familiar with social media tools, and how to interact with customers online. All of this results in greater success for any social media initiatives they later launch.
. . . Tune in Wednesday. We’ll be discussing what happens when folks back in the office aren’t as keen as the client who connects.
Thanks, Mack!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
