What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

The rose, the symbol of love, beauty and romance can teach us a thing or five about social media. I bet you never looked at a rose and thought, wow rose that's deep. But in this post I am going to share with you five insights that the rose has taught me about social media, what can you add?

Influence Word-of-Mouth, BE The Reason Why

In order to flourish, reproduce and keep its genetic code alive the rose must rely on others, such as the bumblebee, to help with fertilization. In fact the rose, like most other flowers, has only one purpose -- to reproduce the plant. In other words, the only reason the rose exists in the first place is to attract attention, which is does through the production of pollen, its sweet smell and beautiful color.

What does that teach you about social media? As an example, think of your company blog, its only in existence to attract people, maybe it doesn't smell all that great but it has other things going for it, like valuable content, specific keywords and calls to action. If done correctly others will link to it and spread what you share around (think bumblebee) so that others will become influenced by it and either keep sharing or make a purchase from you.

Bring Forth Great Discoveries, BE A Thought Leader

Columbus’ crew picked a rose branch out of the ocean on October 11, 1492. This signaled the presence of land. The very next day, Columbus discovered America.

Be a thought leader. Showcase your expertise and professionalism by bringing ideas to the market that others don't. By proving you're the expert and always staying ahead of your competition you go a long way to developing a strong personal brand. And of course a strong personal brand goes a long way to creating inbound leads.

Protect Yourself Online, Manage Your Reputation

Mythology says that roses grew thorns when Cupid accidentally shot an arrow into a rose garden.

People say things, sometimes mean things online, about their business with you, about how they were treated or about the deal they got, are you listening? I'm not saying that you should grow thorns and fight back but you should do something about it, don't just sit around acting like it isn't happening. Do what it takes to monitor what is being said and take the steps necessary to correct it and make sure that processes are put into place to ensure that it doesn't happen again. Keep in mind that what is being said, especially the bad, is a great way to make your customer experiences even better!

Be Likable

In a recent survey it was found that the rose is the favorite flower of 85% of the Americans. Be like the rose, be likable.

Let people get to know you so that they can get to liking you. The main different between traditional marketing and social marketing is that traditional marketing is all about marketing the business while social marketing is all about marketing the people OF the business.

Without showing your personality and letting people know you, then you aren't utilizing social media the way it was meant to be. Don't be all business, get a little personal and let people know the real you.

Stay Relevant

The world's oldest living rose is believed to be 1,000 years old and it grows on the wall of the Cathedral of Hildesheim in Germany. Think about that a moment, over a 1,000 years old... a rose! That means generation after generation of people had to find that rose plant relevant enough to just let it grow, century after century.

The technology behind social media is always changing, in fact its only constant is the fact that it changes! Be sure that you stay up to date with what your customers want, don't let their desires or the technology pass you by. The auto industry is a notoriously late adopter of any new technology, they like to take the wait and see approach and while that isn't always a bad thing take a close look at what's going on and decide if it costs more to do nothing that it does to do something. Be like the rose, always stay relevant no matter what happens around you.

David Johnson
Social Media Strategist
PersuasiveConcepts.com