How can your business learn from Seinfeld and Facebook to make you more money?
When it comes to the attention of internet users, social media is fast catching up to search engines or even overtaking them.
According to Experian Hitwise (via The Independent), in the UK in May 2010, “search engines accounted for 11.33 per cent of internet visits … while social networks accounted for 11.88 per cent.” Experian found that in the USA, “for the seven days to 13 March, Facebook received 7.07 per cent of website hits in the country, overtaking Google which had a 7.03 per cent share.”
Specifically in the UK in May, Facebook attracted 7% of total hits in the UK whilst Google accounted for 9.2% of hits.
As fellow Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle member, Maritza Parra, says in her “7 Universal Laws of Social Marketing”, successful use of social media in your marketing is all about your followers knowing, liking and trusting you. As Dan Kennedy describes it, you want to be influential with your followers.
Connecting with people
Maritza explains one of her seven laws, connection:
“People are hungry for connection in all its forms. They are just as hungry to feel a part of something greater than themselves.
“One of the strongest human needs, after air, food and water, is a sense of belonging. This is one of the reasons that Social Media is so popular and so powerful. Social Media in all its many forms provide a sense of belonging to something greater than yourself.”
When you create that connection with customers, contacts and prospects, selling what you have to offer is much easier and more profitable than the alternatives like cold-calling or waiting for the phone to ring. As the statistics from Experian Hitwise show, people are looking for that connection in growing numbers.
What does this have to do with Seinfeld?
The Independent newspaper also reported today on the earnings that repeats (re-runs) of Seinfeld have netted Time Warner since the show ended 12 years ago. The company has earned an astounding $2.7 billion from Larry Seinfeld’s “Yada Yada”, whilst new shows featuring Seinfeld and his old co-stars, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, have failed to hit the mark. Seinfeld’s new show on NBC, “The Marriage Ref”, has been panned by critics, yet it has been booked for a second season. Perhaps NBC are hoping that Jerry Seinfeld can work his magic to ultimately produce another winning show.
Seinfeld (the show) had a connection with its audience that still banks top dollar today. The show ended just as the internet was coming into its own, long before the advent of Facebook or Twitter. Despite Seinfeld’s lack of internet connectivity, the connection that audiences had with the show translates even today into major revenues for the rights holder. Somehow Seinfeld got it just right, giving people what they were looking for, at least in terms of entertainment programming.
Seinfeld was great at generating water-cooler conversation the day after each episode aired. It created a whole community of people who wanted to share their love of the show with others. Many of these people are tuning into the same show a dozen years later to recapture the enjoyment they had, to reconnect with that experience. And to have a good laugh (TV comedy isn’t what it used to be, sadly.)
Both Seinfeld and Facebook demonstrate that the money lies in connecting with your audience. In your business it doesn’t have to be about Facebook specifically, or writing a muli-billion dollar sit-com. Something as simple as responding to customer feedback about typos on your website shows that you care and increases the depth of your connection with them.
What can you do to increase your connection with your audience and your customers?
Simon Says Media works with companies and business owners to develop their “Secret Sauce”, connecting them with their customers for lasting, profitable relationships.
Call us today on 020 3358 3321 to find out how we can help you connect with your customers.
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