How do you reach out to potential customers?  How do you tout the benefits of social media marketing to potential customers, by example, if those customers are not using social media themselves?

Would traditional methods have to be enlisted?  

Everything I am reading is that social media is a great method for lead generation, but what if the leads you are trying to reach only have a website.  That is the extent of their on-line marketing.  They have no social media presence which leads me to believe they might not be using it personally.

Just wanted to bounce this around.

I agree with @Henry. Also, if I’m understanding the question correctly ~ another approach could be to focus on their Facebook reach. Even if potential leads aren’t using the variety of social media platforms – most are on Facebook.

Brands can be extremely creative with FB pages from polls, to conversation starters to showcasing fans as a way to engage and become top-of-mind.

Remember, social media platforms are not a one size fits all solution. And so many businesses are trying to use a traditional marketing mindset for new media campaigns – this doesn’t work.

Brainstorming creative concepts to reach their desired goals is a great way to educate them, and hopefully open them up to trying new media the way it works naturally.

@deereinhardt

It sounds like you’re asking this question of other social media consultants, right?

If so, I agree w/@socialmediapro

When I put on a social media conference in the past, not only did I tap my network on social media, but I partnered with the local newspaper and TV station to reach the audience who wasn’t so familiar with social media.

You may also want to reach out to local organizations like SCORE and see if you can put on some free or inexpensive seminars to help attract clients.

Just remember that social media is a tool to communicate and reach out to your customers.  There is no AND or HAVE TO or one size fits all.  It will be amazing for some businesses and it won’t as relevant for others. 

Stay with basic business principles.  Where are your key customers?  Go to where they are at.  Your job is not to convince them to use social media just because you’re a convert (unless you’re trying to sell social media services).  Your job is to connect and create sales for your company. 

For example, the majority of my clients are not on any social media platforms.  They may be on Facebook.  So far, we’ve done 2 polls and the answer was close to zero.  It is because of the nature of the clients. They are B2B companies or busy executives. 

If you’re doing $85 Million in sales and your customers are Macys, Walmart, etc., you’re not going to get sales via social media.  It’s through personal contacts that are developed over years.  An OEM manufacturer is not going to get new clients with $500K minimum contract consistently via Twitter.  Eventually, they may.

I had lunch with the CEO and EVPs for a large privately held company recently.  Their sale was in the billions.  Not a single person was on any social media platform.  They haven’t even heard of LinkedIn.  Their focus?  Regulations, costs, competition & new revenue channels.  How did I get this opportunity?  Personal referral by a customer’s friend.  Both are not on any social media platform. 

By the way, my business is not social media consulting. 

I believe social media provides an incredible opportunity for leads because of the massive amount of personal data that’s gathered and available.  How to use it well will differ from company to company..pinimage_reset {border: 0 none !important;margin: 0 !important;padding: 0 !important;text-align: left;}#pinimage_pinner{background:url(resource://jid0-xaabacbjebkv5me8iesrpgdl66w-at-jetpack/easypinner-for-pinterest/data/32.png) no-repeat;width:32px;height:32px;position:absolute;z-index:99999;display:none;cursor:pointer}#pinimage_overlay{position: fixed;top: 0;right: 0;bottom: 0;left: 0;z-index: 100000;background-color: black;opacity: 0.8;display:none;}.pinimage_slideup{-webkit-transition: top 0.3s ease-out;-moz-transition: top 0.3s ease-out;top: -300px;}.pinimage_modal {position: fixed;left: 50%;z-index: 100001;overflow: auto;width: 652px;height:290;margin: -145px 0 0 -326px !important;background-color: white;border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3) !important;-webkit-border-radius: 6px;-moz-border-radius: 6px;border-radius: 6px;-webkit-box-shadow: 0 3px 7px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);-moz-box-shadow: 0 3px 7px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);box-shadow: 0 3px 7px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);-webkit-background-clip: padding-box;-moz-background-clip: padding-box;background-clip: padding-box;}.pinimage_modal-in{top: 50%;}.pinimage_modal-body{margin: 10px !important;}

Thanks everyone.  There is an industry that is primarily made up of “technicians” who have become “entrepreneurs”.  Many are very small staffed focusing on getting from point A to point B.  They have a website, in some cases, that hasn’t been updated for years. Lead generation is a foreign concept to some of these business owners.  Our goal would be to help them open new avenues to improve the lead generation.

Traditional methods for out-reach will have to be employed. Some education will be necessary.  There are some industry related organizations that I will reach out to as well to engage members of this industry.  

@jordanrunsit good  points….thats  sure how we have done it….  we put our pictures out there wherever we can…and   they   tempt  the   interested  folks into our web,and  facebook….and now   pinterest….  they  take the step  because of   genuine interest..

.and i  think it  gives  you a lot  better   fan base   too…. 

i dont  do  twitter or linked in or  google  plus,  but  pinterest  has  been huge  for  seeing  whats  going on  in  my field…. really a g reat  research tool for  me….  .

heres my website…. http://www.greenoakantiques.com         we are all about  stuff…furniture   accessories,  beautiful  things..our  world  is  just perfect  for pinterest….  ..we  have  2500 followers on  facebook and have never heard of   google +  from any of them..but  they are on pinterest,  they   come to me   to  buy  stuff  for their  pinterest projects,,, they  talk about liking my pinterest  boards  for ideas…. 

then  pinterest  tells me  what is  repinned  the most  from  my  boards   andi  can  see my  customers  boards  too…   ..  ….i  can  see their   colors, taste,  what they repin from me….  …

i also  connect  with my  customers  thru  a   dedicated  database  and  email them  monthly   and  for  our  events…so  social media  is  huge  for us.;.. but  to me it means  facebook and pinterest…and  a little on  the  blogs…