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The Benefits of Social Media

Last week, we wrote about the countless hours of productivity lost to Facebook.  What about the potential benefit of social media for your organization?

Social networking allows any company the opportunity to broadcast a consistent stream of free marketing and PR to potential customers.  According to Dell, more than $6.5 million in revenue has been generated from its Twitter accounts.  It is essential for companies to evolve along with social media.  By taking advantage of new technologies, organizations can cultivate a pipeline that was once a proverbial phantom, while touching new customers, new to your product or service.

• Facebook is home to 350 million users.  Twitter chimes in to the tune of 20 million. Anyone can do the simple math and realize that this is a huge potential market.
• Through the use of “status updates,” a company can inform users of the following:
  • Sales- Special offers only to the ‘social media community’
  • New Services, or updates
  • New products, promotions, features, and functions
• These mediums of information can be used to create a two-way relationship between buyers and sellers.  Customers are less threatened with this type of interaction and more likely to provide relevant feedback.
• Questions can be answered and knowledge can be obtained easily, discreetly, free, and on the customers’ terms.
• Research and find your target audience, where are they most active online
• Find the most influential online sites and individuals relating to your brand and/or industry
• Create a social media strategy based on your audience
• Track brand buzz, health, and sentiment

Even better, users of these social networking sites subscribe to “Company Pages” and follow “tweets” which if used correctly can be used as a form of verification, allowing companies to gauge adoption and popularity.

The social networking boom is a growing market, still foreign to most companies.  Social networking is a cost effective vehicle to reach new potential markets and create tighter bonds and product loyalty with customers.

It is time for all organizations to start thinking about how to get a return on lost hourly wages and lost productivity to social media.  Support and guide your employees; give them direction and goals and see the results for yourself.

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