“Working the Room” through Social Media

“Working a Room” Through Social Media

Social Media personality, Gary Vaynerchuk, created an excellent video about “giving a presentation versus working a room”.

My summary of the premise:
Old school brands that only use display ads are limiting themselves. Traditional advertising allows only one direction – from the advertiser to the consumer. It’s analogous to giving a presentation and then not allowing for questions, getting in your car and leaving. There is no opportunity for feedback. There is little recognition if your audience understood what you were talking about, and no ability to learn from the audience to further craft your message for the future.

Social media, however, encourages interaction. By leveraging multiple tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many more, you can converse with your audience. It’s analogous to working a room. You can have intimate conversations with constituents, learn from them, and address questions. The point is to be available and engage.

Lastly, social media is inexpensive. Many of these tools are free, and it only requires passionate people to interact with the constituents.

But Don’t Act too Quickly!
While Gary discussed the concept of working a room, it is critical to not act too quickly. New messages often need to be absorbed. People may be confused at first, and that may be OK.

For instance: The first time I saw the Budweiser frogs commercial, I laughed, but was confused. Why are frogs in a swamp, hardly an appetizing thought, saying “bud” “weis” “er”? If I had access to social media in 1995, I may have commented about their poor choice of spokesmen. Many others may have commented as well – and if Budweiser reacted, they would have not created one of the most successful advertising campaigns in history.

How do brands achieve success?

• Join the communities and understand how they work. Each one is unique and each has its own utility.
• Develop a strategy on how to leverage the online world and how you will address your constituents
• Integrate your offline marketing with online efforts and track results
• Strive to achieve balance between experimenting and staying the course
• Lastly, start NOW. Your competitors are.