Social Networking for business – opportunity or distraction?

Guest blogger Business Link West Midlands’ Knowledge and Information Officer Adam Thompson, the man behind our own Twitter updates offers his opinion on how businesses can use social media.

Ok, so these days everyone will tell you that you’re missing a trick if you and business aren’t clambering aboard the social media bandwagon. There’s no shortage of consultants that are screaming at you to embrace Twitter, Face Book, LinkedIn and numerous other online networking platforms. But are they really right for you? From my experience the answer is usually a resounding YES but you have to do things properly and for the right reasons. Here‘s a few points to consider that should help you decide whether it can work for you.

It’s all too easy to get caught up in the initial excitement of social networking and spend hours refreshing your screen awaiting your next @mention. And that’s fine right? Because most social networking sites are free...true. But don’t discount the hours you spent setting up your account, customising your profile and composing the 10-20 tweets that experts recommend you should send each day. Still think Twitter’s free? Make sure you work out the hours you’re putting in each month and be mindful of your return on this investment of time.

Some organisations just aren’t ready for social media and there’s still an element of fear that accompanies it. The potential benefits of chatting directly to your audience or target market are often outweighed by the fear that there may be some negative responses. I guarantee that will be the case, at some stage there WILL be some negative feedback but that’s exactly how you should see it – feedback. An opportunity to respond to a client and put right any wrongs. People often think that providing clients with a public forum to air dissatisfaction without being able to moderate it is crazy from a business point of view. I’d say you couldn’t be more wrong. Clients will always voice their dissatisfaction one way or another (and rightly so) if not directly to you on Twitter or Face Book then via some other means. At least this way you’re instantly aware of it and can take positive action. Make sense?

If you’re thinking of using social media as a direct marketing tool then think again, you’ve missed the point entirely. For me it’s about chatting with your audience, building relationships, cultivating a good reputation, having conversations, answering questions, raising awareness, creating an interest in your brand rather than pushing sales messages. Obviously we’ve all got a product or service to sell but subtlety is the key. Be careful how many promotional/sales updates you send, how many links to products or special offers you push. Eventually this can be seen as nothing more than spam. Finally, have fun. Make friends and build connections with like minded professionals. Remember platforms like Twitter weren’t really built for corporate speak so relax a little. See how the big brands do it and don’t be afraid to use some of their ideas.

There’s loads more I could say, that’s the beauty of social media, it’s all about collaboration and is still evolving. We’re still developing best practice every day and learning from mistakes we make. There’s loads more pros and cons so let me know what you think are the most important ones.

Comments

[@annmariehanlon]

It is all about building relationships whether it's face to face or online.

I have used Twitter to recruit photographers at the last minute, get recommendations for coffee machines and explore places to visit.

It is also about using the tools intelligently as few of us have time to spend monitoring @mentions all day long ;) I check in to LinkedIn most days and any @mentions go direct to my mobile so they’re not missed.

[Birmingham investment homes]

Of course Social Networking for business is an opportunity. Through social networking you could have links to different people through out the globe. So it is a chance for you to speak up through exerting less effort.