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Lessons from a box of raisins:”The more you use social media the more informed your consumer is”

Just a thought for today>

Have you ever worked for a company where you are selling a product—lets say for argument sake…the product happens to be “The Raisin” (yes the food, the little black and squishy item). Okay, so now you get together with your sales and marketing team and begin to develop your marketing strategy and advertisement plan. Perhaps you plan to go with a page ad in a women’s health magazine which depicts a girl in a field, the sun is out shining and she is enjoying her tiny box of raisins.

But wait, raisins are much more diverse than just a snack treat that make people happy to eat right? Well…you got one shot of making that advertisement to get your message across–so now you must choose your message wisely.

But with social media–that is just not the case anymore. Raisins are a diverse product–(now I am no raisin expert) but what I do know is that raisins are the following:

1. A healthy snack treat

2. Great for toppings

3. Great for baking yummy deserts (raisin bread pudding anyone?)

4. A handy travel snack

5.  Fun to eat for little kids

6. Helps parents who are out to dinner with their kids by distraction (fun for building)

And the list could go on…

So now—you get together with your marketing team and realize that through social media you will be able to communicate all these great features of raisins everyday–if you so choose. And that is the beauty of social media. Maybe your raisin sales won’t skyrocket-or maybe they will…but who cares? All you care about is communicating the best, positive aspects of that tiny raisin the best you can. Because a tweet will cost you: zero $….but the information in the tweet will gain you a more informed consumer. Am I right?

Tweet one day about the health benefits of eating raisins and the next how they are one of the best snacks for traveling families and workers. Bam. It’s that simple…you get your message across through different channels and your consumer is that much more informed—so much more informed than that ad depicting a little girl eating a box of raisin under the sun…right?

And thats why I love social media…and thats why companies should look at the big picture and stop focusing on the nitty gritty…aka $$. The more you use social media the more informed your consumer is.

-Courtspencer