Synopsis

Dr. Misner is very active on social media and thinks it’s great for brand-building. But for most businesses, social media does not replace all other forms of marketing. Unless you’re in an Internet-related business, social media doesn’t generate referrals in the way that face-to-face networking does.

The 2011 Freelance Industry Report survey found that networking-related activities generated 69.5% of freelancers’ business. Social media generated only 2.8% of business. Yet social media ranked #1 in terms of activities that freelancers planned to focus on in the following year.

Despite that professed intention, the 2012 Freelance Industry Report survey showed that social media still only accounted for 2.8% of freelancers’ business, with networking generating 74.3%. But social media was still the #1 activity that freelancers planned to engage in the following year.

Put your effort into the place that your business is coming from. If that’s social media, invest in social media. But if it’s face-to-face networking, invest in that.

Brought to you by the Networking for Success Channel on YouTube.

Complete Transcript of Episode 527 –

Priscilla:

Hello everybody and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by the Networking for Success Channel on YouTube, which features Dr. Ivan Miser and many other networking experts. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan, how are you?

Ivan:

I am doing great, Priscilla, and I have a fun topic today, or an interesting topic. Will social media replace face-to-face networking? I need to start off by saying I love social media. I am really active on social media, particularly Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I have found that social media is fantastic [for] brand building. I also believe that social media will not replace all marketing efforts for most entrepreneurs and salespersons. In fact, here is the controversial part. In fact, for many businesses, it just does not generate the majority of their business.

I know that there are people out there right now who are officially apoplectic, my social media coordinator in particular. Brian, I love you man. This isn’t about what you do. I want everyone to take a deep breath. Know that I love you, involved in social media- and that I love social media. It is a fantastic tool. It’s a fantastic tool for me to retain my audience and keep everyone engaged. It is a fantastic brand builder.

I have also seen the marketing data. Social media, I believe, is great for brand building but it doesn’t necessarily generate referrals unless you are in the Internet business of some kind. So unless you are in the Internet business of some kind, then it doesn’t replace social media. If you don’t believe me, let’s look at the data.

Here is a great example of a couple of reports. One sent me back from 2011 and one from a couple years after that. In 2011, the Freelance Industry Report did a really thorough survey of the industry. One of the many questions they asked was, “What has been your most effective method of finding and landing clients?” Four out of the five answers were all networking related. Word of mouth, referrals, personal professional network, local networking activities – these added up to 69.5% of all business development from the respondent. Almost 70% of all the business they got came from networking or word of mouth referrals.