Social Media and Business – A Friendly Concept

Business to customer communication is in a stage of transformation like we’ve never seen before. Never before have businesses had so many ways to get their message in front of potential customers. It can be overwhelming trying to navigate all the social networking, blogging, video and microblogging sites at their disposal. To succeed businesses need a basic understanding of the options available and what those options mean to their success.

Unlike other online opportunities for businesses in the past, using social media should be considered part of an overall marketing plan and not a direct form of advertising. Using social media is not like placing web ads or distributing commercials, but more like having a voice at the water cooler and being part of your customers’ conversations.

Businesses with little or no online presence can use social networking sites to let current and potential customers know you exist and speak their language. Sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and local sites like Biznik and Local Business Connections put businesses in the middle of their customers’ conversations and make friends with them. These sites also give businesses the opportunity to promote events, get immediate feedback, and launch new products and services directly to customers. Businesses should avoid directly selling on these sites, but should use the sites to promote, brag, and direct friends (customers) to their websites.

For businesses with an established web presence blogging offers an excellent opportunity for customer education and retention. A well created business blog on Blogger or WordPress can turn one time customers into dedicated fans awaiting a business’ posts and relying on it’s expertise in it’s field.

Video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo give businesses the opportunity to engage, inform and entertain customers like never before. An entertaining or informative video can become an integral part of a business’ social media marketing. The same video can be posted across multiple sites, linked in blogs, or direct emailed to customers. Nothing has the opportunity to catapult your business’ online exposure like a video that goes viral.

Currently the business world is all atwitter with Twitter. Microblogging is quickly becoming the It form of social media. Twitter is not for every business. It requires a constant management of the information stream that is necessary to keep customers following your business. A business can benefit from the immediate customer feedback and having an ear to what’s being said about it.

Social media can be many things depending on a business’ needs, but it should not be looked at as a direct sales tool. Statistics show that users of social media are far less likely to partake in a direct sales offer than other web users. However, when used properly as part of a larger marketing plan social media can have an amazing effect of brand recognition and loyalty. Just remember when it comes to social media, customers come and go but friends are forever.