Businesses are told they have to tweet, set up a Facebook page and update a blog on a regular basis. But this doesn’t matter if the venture doesn’t deliver what it promises.
A good case of this was a business I recently visited that’s prominent in various social media channels. The owners do everything right by the new media textbook and have been featured in a number of articles for their use of new media tools.
But they have a problem; their product was poor. Thinking I might have caught them on a bad day, I even went back the following week and found it was still disappointing.
It wasn’t so bad I’d complain, but I left feeling I could get better quality and value for many at other places. There simply wasn’t a reason to go back.
As business owners we need to keep focussed on our core product; the coffee in a coffee shop, the sales team at a real estate agency, the shoes in a shoe shop or whatever goods and services it is we actually sell.
If the underlying product doesn’t deliver on your customer’s expectations, then marketing or any other tools won’t save the business.
So by all means play with the new tools and explore the opportunities, but don’t lose sight of the core reason why customers will come to you.