Is Social Media a Business Tool?

There has been a lot of conversations and debate recently over the value of social media for businesses.  Is it a worthwhile exercise?  Should companies use it to communicate with its customers/stakeholders?  What about employees who use Facebook, Twitter etc. during working hours?

For me, I would argue that social media – as with any other channel – should be given clear objectives which can be monitored and used to determine success.  There is, in my view, limited mileage in pursuing the latest craze if you’re not 100% confident on what your business is going to get out of it and how you’re going to know whether it is succeeding.  It may be that this craze isn’t for you because, having analysed the market you’re in, it does not look to offer anything.  That’s fine; at least you considered it and you can confidently say when asked the reasons why you feel it’s not right. 

The company I currently work for needs to constantly engage with teenagers and young adults in order to promote the service (education) that we offer.  Social media therefore forms one part of my marketing strategy and it is used to monitor what is being said about us as well as converse with potential customers in a method that they are familiar with.  Part of this means exposure on Facebook, Bebo and Twitter as well as videos on YouTube and spending time each day responding to any comments which have been made.   However, other companies I’ve worked for that operate in more commoditised and B2B sectors rely on different channels and have equal success with those.  As with everything the secret to success is finding what is right for you and then repeating it over and over.

However, if you are going to embrace social media and encourage employees to promote your company online then a clear policy is needed.  Just as you need to protect your brand by limiting which companies you partner, or which images you use on your marketing literature, so you need to protect it from over enthusiastic or embittered employees online. 

For more tips on using social media for business purposes book onto the next Kent Branch event “Content is King, Conversation is Queen” on 17^th February 2010.

Until next time.

Permalink Trackback URL CIM Kent blog RSS CIM Kent blog by email