We love a good buzz word down at All Words Towers and the new kid on the block is Social Media. It’s sometimes referred to as social networking and for many companies has become a valuable way to engage directly with their customers.
So what is this new fangled social meeja?
Social media is an all encompassing term to describe activities which happen online – they usually involve an element of technology (often a website), some type of media (music, video, pictures or words) and social interaction. You may be familiar with the more well known social networking sites, such as Bebo and Facebook. You also probably know some of the media based sites such as You Tube and Flickr. You might have a personal or company blog or create podcasts. All these elements fall within social media.
That’s great – but what does it have to do with business?
Using social media should be a key part of any online marketing strategy you have. Whether that is as simple as having a profile on one of the business networking sites such as Ecademy or LinkedIn to creating a funky video to put on You Tube, it is a fantastic way of profile raising and building your brand.
It is also a cost effective method of marketing, where you can carefully target the kind of customers you want to attract. Even better, you can hear exactly what you prospective customers think about your product or service. Admittedly a scary prospect, but just the kind of insight most companies pay market researchers thousands of pounds to find out.
Just a fad?
It looks like social media is here to stay, albeit in a constantly changing way. A survey by Melcrum in 2007 of 2,100 executives in the corporate world revealed that over half already had blogs, and 63% were creating online videos to place on video sharing services like You Tube.
Where do we start?
The first thing you have to decide is whether social media is right for your business. Is there someone in your business (or a specialist consultant) who can ‘talk’ for you online? Are you full of ideas to engage with your online audience? Are you open to feedback and can you handle it? (And it won’t always be positive – you can’t underestimate the people power behind social media). Are you flexible and agile enough to respond quickly in the online environment and adapt as it changes?
Once you’ve established that it’s right for you, you can develop your strategy for social media domination! There are many elements to a full social media campaign and you may not be ready to tackle them all. If you fancy a tentative step into this brave new world then a good place to start is a blog. If you already have an existing website you could create a blog which is part of your website or links to it. This is a very personal and direct way of talking to your customers plus it’s a great way to get visitors coming back to your site again and again.
Want to know more about blogging for business?
