As discussed in the earlier posts applying Social Media to business is about using online tools on reach out and communicate with your customers to engage them through ‘conversations’ or ‘interactive participation’. These tools facilitate participation of customers, employees, shareholders and the media to increase awareness of your brand while giving you a valuable peek into the minds of others – how they look at your company and what they think of your product or service. What is good about your business and what is not so good about your business.
Look at it this way: First there was the telephone that helped us communicate, it was a tool that met with some resistance initially, but soon enough people realized either they’re in or out. With wide acceptance of a trend or a new way of doing things, being out literally meant you were left out. Then came the Internet with its fair share of detractors but with time just about everyone converted into a loyalist. Today, a world without the Internet is like living in the Dark Ages… Hello, Mr CaveMen!
Likewise, social media is the crazy mega star right now – forward thinking companies have adopted and adapted to its ways, while others are still holding out. Again, it’s just a matter of time. Small business owners sit up and open your eyes and ears wide, getting an online presence is not for the privilege few only. The internet has given you a level play field in terms of creating online presence for your business. On the internet, big corporation or small business owners both stood an equal chance of being found / listed if it is done correctly. You need to decide whether you’re in or out. Sure, you could be a late starter in adapting social media marketing, but as they say lost time is lost money and missed opportunities. The choice is yours, with the vast amount of social media marketing success, discussions, and case studies available, there is no shortage of information which gives you a high level overview of applying social media to business. Small business owners should not fear of this new wave of change.
Applied social media as an integrated part of a company’s marketing efforts simply means utilizing social applications / tools for customer relationship management, search engine marketing, spreading the word, reputation management and company branding to build or to maintain awareness. Building a genuine relationship with customers is the most important activity in any business. Ideally, these tools should be used to provide help or value to the people you’re interacting with. Sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube and Facebook help you network and reach out for business purposes. As a matter of fact, you can extend your reach through blogs, writing useful content, putting up videos, audio files or images.
A high level overview of some popular new media / social media / web 2.0 tools: Twitter is the hottest social media tool that lets you tweet others in short 140 word messages. A useful and informative video on YouTube opens up a world of possibilities. Facebook gets you connected with a more young audience. LinkedIn gives you access to 7 million professionals across 130 industries. Digg allows you to put up content along with a forum for discussion that your customers might value. Podcast allows for pre-recorded medium to be downloaded.
A simple comparison of online marketing tools with the traditional promotional tools. Don’t you think Twitter is similar to the 3 or 4 lines of advertisement you place on the newspaper? YouTube is similar to television? LinkedIn is like trade directories? Podcast to radio?
Before you dive deep, jump into applying social media and begin using these social media tools first figure out your strategy. Plan, research and then execute. It always pays to do your homework. What do you want to achieve through these tools? Where can you find your target audience? How do you plan to approach them and build a relationship of trust and honesty?
Let’s flash out the inherent benefits of using social media for your business:
1. Gives you access to a broad customer base, that too for free!
2. Allows you to know what others are saying about your brand or company
3. Let’s you do damage control if there’s a problem or rumor out there
4. Provides quality traffic and ways to track user behavior and sales
5. Provides great exposure
6. Helps increase awareness of your brand
7. Keeps you grounded in reality
8. Allows you to help and value add to your customers lives
9. Builds a strong and loyal community
Used efficiently with a proper social media road map, your social media blueprint can help grow your business by building mutually beneficial relationships. So what are you waiting for? Go out there and let your voice be heard! And while you’re at it, don’t forget to listen!
