By Max Stinson, Published November 1, 2014
Social justice is a hot button word and it’s not your fault that you constantly keep your distance for fear alienating a possible portion of your target market.
But when it’s caught up with your campaign to generate sales leads from social media, how do you keep from getting caught between a rock and a hard place?
Well on the bright side, you won’t be alone in saying that the ultimate answer isn’t going to be a simple one. The best thing you can do though is identify the common hurdles and above all, keep generating those sales leads.
- Social Struggle #1: Politics – Sometimes even Pirates of the Carribbean paints a more preferable picture of politics compared to the hornet’s nest of real political issues. The moment you market a particular social initiative and some of your customers tie it with politics, better batten down the hatches.
- Social Struggle #2: Transparency – This arguably easier to deal with because how you communicate yourself as a business is well within marketing and sales territory. Just be aware though that the line between transparency and protecting company interests can be heavily blurred. Expected discernment and discretion to go hand-in-hand.
- Social Struggle #3: Conflicting data – The information you might obtain on a particular social issue could a very, very mixed bag. Accusations of bias and skepticism will abound. It won’t be like a simple focus group or nothing like a customer survey is going to fix. Be prepared to increase volume when conducting market research.
- Social Struggle #4: Unexpected results – Finally, even all the preparation isn’t going to spare you from unintended consequences. Every plan you make is going to forever be in theory until you start putting your initiatives in practice. As they say, don’t undertestimate the ripple effect of what you do for bad or for good.
Giving your company a social initiative might make for a good marketing pitch but it really is more than just that. It’s a commitment, a contract. It’s like choosing to play as a hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It sounds like a kid’s dream come true but you should realize you’ll be tied to that dream for a very long time.
Social Articles | Business 2 Community
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