John D Schultz

As of late, the buzz words in the auction industry, and many industries, are “social networking.”  However, the implementation thus far within the auction industry has been spotty at best, and when implemented most get it all wrong.

I’ve written about social networking on two separate occasions in the past both in May of 2008: Jumping into the social conversation without drowning; and Connecting via social networks.  There is some good information that is still pertinent to conversations about social networking, especially in the jumping without drowning post.

In fact, in the jumping without drowning post, I review an article about 12 tips for success in social media.  The last 6 tips focus on “diving into social media” and are: 7. Engage Your Audience; 8. Engage Your Employees; 9. Engage Your Customers; 10. Be Honest and Authentic; 11. Define Metrics According to Business Objectives; and 12. Fail Quickly. Fail Cheaply.

As I look at that short list two things jump out.  First: engage, engage, engage; and second: honest and authentic.  This is where most auction companies get it wrong.  For the most part auction companies understand honest and authentic.  But it’s the engage, engage, engage part where the mark is completely missed.

Auction companies broadcast market events.  They mail hundreds and sometimes thousands of brochures, run multitudes of display ads, and run minutes or more of commercials on radio.  Often, this is just the beginning of the marketing campaign.  However, did you notice one thing these methods all have in common?  Broadcast, broadcast, broadcast.

A primary tenant of social networking is to engage honestly and authentically.  Yet, my experience has been auction companies are so trapped in broadcast mode that they fail to engage.  Rather, they fall back on the old reliable method of broadcast marketing.

What does this mean?  It means almost all the auction companies I follow broadcast links to auctions.  That’s not engaging.  Where is the insider information and tips?  What about links to resources you find, or articles you found interesting?  What about writing informational articles, and then passing that information along via Twitter or Facebook in the form of a link?

What if auction companies engaged their customers?  Companies could promote resources for buyers and for sellers, pass along industry information, provide behind-the-scenes information about upcoming auctions, and so much more.  What about actually interacting and having conversations with customers via Facebook and Twitter?  When it comes time for a customer to use an auctioneer, who are they going to look to first?  The company that merely blasts information, or the company that engages and interacts?  The company that provides useful resources and information to the consumer or the company that merely broadcasts notice about their next auction?

Now, our company is just as guilty of broadcasting, or I should say was just as guilty.  In fact, initially, we set up our website to automatically broadcast every new auction, real estate listing, and update to our Facebook page.  However, we recently turned that feature off.  At the same time, we added our company to Twitter (@SAuctioneers).  We did turn on a feature that will automatically tweet anytime we add a new listing, auction, or update to our website.  However, we’re determined to share links and information to our followers on Facebook and Twitter.  In fact, we’ve incorporated a section called “We’re all a Twitter” to the front page of our website which displays our two most recent tweets.  Consumers will be able to follow us on Twitter, Facebook or the front page of our website for engaging, honest, and authentic information.  They’ll be able to interact with us, learn from us, and teach us.  We’ll be able to share with them, and them with us.  It will be social and relational.

In the end, what are you doing to be social?  Are you broadcasting at the top of your lungs, or are you setting out to engage honestly and authentically those that come in contact with your company?  Given the choice, I know with which person I’d want to hang out!