Louisville Businesses Missing the Now Revolution of Social Media

I recently started reading Jay Baer’s and Amber Naslund’s The Now Revolution and was immediately motivated to write a post after reading this gem on the very first page…

The future of business is not in measured, scrutinized responses or carefully planned initiatives.  Business will soon be about near-instantaneous response; about making the best decisions you can with the extremely limited information you have; about every customer being a reporter, and every reporter being a customer; about winning and losing customers in real time, every second of every day; and about a monumental increase in the availability of commentary about our companies.  Business will be always on, always changing, always moving.

This is a simple paragraph on the surface, but it goes to the heart of social media for business — dubbed the “Now Revolution” — better than anything I’ve read in the past.  After reading this, I started thinking about the business environment in Louisville.

I started thinking about the local retail stores, coffee shops, restaurants, night clubs and bars, entertainment venues, and other small businesses I visit.

All this thinking left me wondering: Is Louisville missing the Now Revolution?

Businesses Doing Social Media Right

Don’t get me wrong, a number of Louisville businesses recognized the shift in what consumers expect and jumped right into the social media craze.  They monitored what consumers were saying online about their brand, grabbed social media by the horns, and broke through the noise to engage their target market with a passion.

For good reasons, these businesses are leading their respective industries across Louisville and probably will continue to do so into the future.  A shout out to a few of those who have recognized and adapted to the Now Revolution.

Chop Chop Salads

Heine Brothers Cafe

Quills Coffee

Louisville Improv

Those Businesses Missing the Now Revolution

The issue is this:  For every Louisville business that has adopted social media and the Now Revolution, there are dozens upon dozens that have not.  Sure, most have a Facebook page and many have Twitter accounts.

Unfortunately, most of these accounts go without consistent updating, there is no overarching social media or content strategy in place, and, most importantly, there is very little effort put toward socially networking with followers.  Many of these businesses are making simple mistakes or approaching social media marketing as though it’s free.

These businesses are essentially setting up customer service phone lines, but not hiring anyone to answer the phones. Even more problematic is the fact that the people occasionally answering the phones are blindly handing out answers without even making an attempt to understand or appeal to the callers’ needs.  They’re throwing a scripted, auto-pilot thought (a generic Facebook status) at the caller and hoping it sticks.

You would probably have more success getting darts to stick by throwing them at a metal wall.

Reasons Why Business Owners Are Ignoring the Business Shift

• Naivety in still believing social media is just a fad.  I’m not sure how to convince someone social media is here to stay if they haven’t recognized it yet.  There’s nothing more to do except point out the fact that, to succeed in business, you go where your target audience is.Whether you like it or not, your audience is on social media and they want you there too.

• Lack of expertise, manpower, and time.  A completely understandable reason to lack a social media presence as a small business.  Social media is in a state of constant change and, for some businesses, calls for full-time dedication.  Many businesses don’t have the time to learn social media and they don’t have the manpower to assign someone to the task.But there needs to be an understanding that having a social media presence isn’t a choice anymore, in the same way that having an accountant isn’t a choice.  Face the fact that you may have to change your budget and outsource your social media efforts to specialists.  It will pay off in the long run.

• Made an attempt to engage on social media, but nobody listened.  That’s no reason to call it quits on the whole matter.  One of the pitfalls of social media is that it’s very easy to sign up, so businesses jump right in without planning very well. As with all marketing, social media requires a focused strategy.It requires sitting down and thinking hard about which consumers you’re trying to appeal to and brainstorming the best ways to reach that target group.  It requires research, experimenting, and analysis to see what works best.  Just realize you won’t get it right the first time.  Build a strategy, dedicate yourself to that strategy, and make minor adjustments as needed.

The Takeaway

Plain and simple: “The key to success is often the ability to adapt.” There’s a marketing revolution taking place right this second and whether or not you adapt to these changes in the business environment could very well determine your future success.

Feedback

What do you think about the social media presence of Louisville’s small businesses?  Do you think, as a whole, we’re a bit behind the times compared to other large cities?  Are there any other small businesses you would say are doing a great job using social media?  Share your thoughts in the comments!