Social Media is the new Green Eggs and Ham
For 57 grueling pages, Sam pushed Green Eggs and Ham. For 57 pages, Sam got nothing but no thanks. But every new attempt came with a smile. Sam never showed an ounce of frustration.
I know that in the eyes of social media, Sam was pushy to point of annoyance. If the book would be written with Inbound Marketing in mind, I suspect Sam would be creating remarkable content to attract a trial and conversion, but we have what we have.
For those of us who know and understand what social media can deliver for its adopters should feel assured we’ve got something really special on our plate. We also have to realize that for some folks, that offering may still seem a little odd or scary, but that’s okay.
Convincing the curmudgeon — as Sam did (and as Charlene Li referred to it in this presentation delivered at Inbound Marketing Summit, San Francisco) — is only one part of the battle. The other part is keeping your chin up throughout the process, learning everything we can every day. The deeper the knowledge and the deeper our understanding, the more likely we are to convince people to just sit down with us and have a taste — no force feeding necessary.
Seems to me that we’re near the end of the book. For a year, I’ve been pushing social media on semi-reluctant clients. Now, suddenly, everyone wants it. Sure initially they think that a Twitter feed or a FB page constitutes SM, but some of the more thoughtful are realizing it’s about content and programs and experiences and real utility, Michael, if you haven’t yet, check on some of the stuff we’ve done for Olympus and NE Aquarium (Live Blue) as well as Grain Foods Foundation. I’m finding that the more real examples I offer up to clients (ways to add comments to their site, starting a blog or a closed community, inventing software or utility to live in the social space, the more likely they are to embrace it.
glad to hear it, edward. now once everyone gets on, we have to be the ones pushing for re-invention as you had suggested in one of your earlier posts. hope to see some exciting things from you, mullen, and the creative community at large. thanks again for coming on and posting. always appreciated.