Wired magazine talked to Larry Page from Google in their Feb. 2013 issue and it’s quite eye opening when thinking about how your business is growing and what you should be aiming for. (Hint: It’s the Stars (or at least a moonshot!))

A couple of weeks ago, our own Sage Lewis spoke at COSE in Cleveland and his topic was: Facebook, Twitter and Online Video – The Cheapest, Most Targeted Ads Ever

When he came back to the office he mentioned that a lot of local businesses were still trying to justify Social Media as a viable medium for their business. There are lots of reasons/excuses that businesses make as to why they shouldn’t be involved in the social media space or why they feel it’s a waste of time. I hear this sentiment daily.

I would like to put that topic to rest.

In August of 2012 the Atlantic reported that 85% of the 1700 CMOs they surveyed say they use social media as a communications channel.

85%!

Another interesting fact that Sage noted was that none (and by none, I mean ZERO%) of the people that we talk to from the West Coast even have this as a question or a concern. Take note Northeast Ohio – None of the Silicon Valley people that are making money hand over fist are thinking about social media as something they can get out of. They know it’s importance and use it as a marketing/advertising tool instead of an excuse to get out of doing what needs to be done.

Still doubting this? It’s time for an example:

One of our clients is a critical cleaning company. What does that mean? It means their products are essentially boring to the average consumer. [No offense dear client] But seriously, they sell cleaning supplies to laboratories, nuclear engineers, and pharmaceutical supply houses. What do they have that would appeal to a very personal social media audience like Facebook?

In a recent SageRock Case Study we note that we have been able to provide this client with 100% lead conversion rate with LinkedIn Ads. Truly this isn’t the case for everyone so let’s look at some actual data from their Facebook Page:

Since 2010 we have been able to grow their Facebook fans from a non-existent 0 to well over 7000. Could we have done more? Of course! Our growth with this client has only been limited only by budget and time constraints. Our Cost per Lead through their Facebook page has been less than what they’ve seen through Google AdWords.

The point of this is not to get into a numbers game. It’s to point out that if you’re still on the fence about Social Media Marketing, you are playing a fools game. This stuff works and we have many examples here SageRock that can prove how.

Let’s take a moment to get back to Google and what Larry Page said on growing your business.

Larry Page said in his Interview with Wired:

“I could probably give you a list of 10 major things that are wrong with email. I try to maintain lists like that in my head.”

I have to wonder what would happen if we were brainstorming or thinking about the 10 major things that were holding Northeast Ohio businesses back with their marketing,

Wired: Google is known for encouraging its employees to tackle ambitious challenges and make big bets. Why is that so important?

Larry Page: I worry that something has gone seriously wrong with the way we run companies. If you read the media coverage of our company, or of the technology industry in general, it’s always about the competition. The stories are written as if they are covering a sporting event. But it’s hard to find actual examples of really amazing things that happened solely due to competition. How exciting is it to come to work if the best you can do is trounce some other company that does roughly the same thing?

WOW! Can you imagine? Can you think about your industry and just for a second pause and realize that the only thing that people are talking about is how you stack up against your competitors?

I imagine not. We talk to people like this every day… people who are full of excuses. People who would rather focus on what their competition is doing instead of seeing how far they can take their own business. While their opinions can provide us with many examples, it’s the companies that shoot for the moon which are much more successful time and time again.

This moon-shot mentality is the basis of Google X, which the company established in early 2010 to identify and implement once-impossible sci-fi fantasies. These are totally Hail Mary projects like the self-driving car or what you’ve heard of in the form of Google Glass.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you:

Did you know that Google started out as a failed Pizza Delivery Service?

That’s right. Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin, said that they had an idea to make it easier for people to order pizza from their local pizza shops online. They wanted to get a bunch of local pizza places and send them orders through an Internet to Fax service. They built the technology and sent a fax order to the pizza parlor. A couple of hours later, they didn’t have a pizza delivered. They picked up the phone and called to see if the order was received. The response they got? “Let me check the fax machine.” So.. that didn’t work. But instead of giving up or calling it quits, they learned from their mistakes and shifted gears into building what we now know as Google.

Here’s Sergey Brin talking about Moonshots and the value of failing:

If you think Google and it’s top brass are driving innovation forward.. what are you doing to take your company to the next level? Are you just trying to increase profits by 10% year over year or are you aiming much higher?

I do have to say this.. if you’re still fighting with the rationale behind being involved in social media then you are way behind the curve. Let’s stop fighting the fight behind social media being right for your business and instead start thinking ahead to how you can take your business to the next level. It’s no longer 2007.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!