Widening the reach of Social Media, how big is yours?
Posted by Patrick Murphy on Tue, Feb 22, 2011
Social Media is getting wiser
A recent survey by a social media industry expert revealed that while a majority of businesspeople use more established social media tools such as Google Alerts, RSS feeds, blogs and LinkedIn for business, far fewer are aware of the uses and benefits of Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. Traditionally seen only as ‘social’ tools, savvy businesses are fast changing their attitude towards these platforms and are using them as ways to generate leads and close sales.
What is important for social media
The survey also identified an important factor in terms of businesses learning to harness these tools. The survey found that at the marketing / sales management level, many managers are removed from the front line of business and therefore do not have much contact with customers. As a result the people who are most informed about a given product and its marketplace are not the people talking to the customers and are probably the people that customers most want to talk to.
Social media strategies should be different
So how can this be rectified? The size of the firm has a lot to do with the solution here, so different strategies will best suit firms of different sizes. Regardless of size, management should be seen to act as a champion of social media, encouraging both training and development.
Social media for starting new conversations
The team will also have to be open to starting new levels of conversations. The best way to do this is to scan the Net for relevant blogs. Begin by tagging these blogs but also by participating in discussions around these blogs. These can then be linked to the business’s in-house blog. In this forum, the business should develop an authoritative tone, so as that it becomes a reference tool for others looking for information in this area. Within relevant organisations, the key people should be identified and relationships should be developed with those people. By linking these contacts to your social media, it will be possible to demonstrate the company’s expertise and begin the process of building a social media footprint.
If you would like more information about social media or how they can be harnessed to boost your business online presence, contact SiliconCloud today.
How to build a social media strategy
As more companies integrate social media into their marketing and communications plans, emphasis needs to be on creating a social media strategy. Without a strategy, you’ll undoubtedly be sucked into a social media time sink. So how exactly do you develop this strategy? It is easy, join our live social media webinar tomorrow to start building your Social Media strategy now.
