3/10/2015 1:02:00 PM
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Gregory to NFDA: Social Media Still the “Wild West”
Nanette Gregory
Like it or not, social media is becoming increasingly important to your customers, consultant Nanette Gregory told National Fastener Distributors Association members meeting in Charleston, SC.
For fastener distributors, social media is a way to differentiate their business from their competition through improved customer outlets, Gregory explained in her presentation “How Fastener Distributors Benefit From Social Media – Especially LinkedIn.”
“Social media takes you up a notch” in the minds of customers, Gregory noted.
Conversely, failing to have a social media presence discounts the value of your company.
“A lot of companies are looking at you and saying ‘if you don’t have social media, where are you?'”
However, some fastener distributors are reluctant to establish their social media presence because they’re afraid they might make a mistake, Gregory said.
“I am here to tell you, the best thing about social media is the delete button,” she noted.
Mistakes are part of the learning process, Gregory explained.
“No one is an expert. It’s still the wild west with social media.”
So which outlet is best for reaching customers?
“Blogs are good but they take lots of time.”
For fastener distributors, Gregory advised using LinkedIn. The platform has more than 300 million members, including 107m in U.S., 10 million in Canada and 6 million in Mexico, according to Gregory.
The goal of social media is making connections with customers, potential customers and vendors.
“It’s soft selling,” Gregory noted. “You can’t be aggressive on social media or people will hit the delete button.”
Because it’s a “sharing” medium, Gregory advised including select personal information on your profile, as well as lots of general information about industry.
Nanette Gregory is a partner at NSG Consulting.
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