“‘Like’ me on Facebook”… “Did you see my tweet?”... “A colleague wants to connect with you on LinkedIn”… “Check out my YouTube channel!” If you own a business and you’re scratching your head trying to figure out why social media should mean anything to you, you’re not alone. Millions of business owners are struggling to determine if social media is right for them, and why. In this post, we’ll break down a few of the top social media sites and how businesses are using them to grow.
What Is Social Media?
Social media is a relatively new means of connecting people via the world wide web. People are able to establish personal and business profiles online, then use them to find and connect with either people they know or people they want to know. The first social media site to gain wide recognition was MySpace. On its heels, and a site that would all but put MySpace out of business was Facebook. Almost simultaneously new sites such as YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn were online and quickly gaining followers. So exactly how many people are using social media? Facebook alone has over 400,000,000 users currently, and is projected to have more than 600,000,000 by the end of 2011! (Yes, all of those zeros are correct…hundreds of millions of users!)
Breaking Down the Top Four
While there are literally hundreds of social media outlets, four main sites are standouts for different reasons.
Facebook
Facebook is a personal social media site created by college students as a way to meet and interact with other students online. Facebook quickly graduated to a social media site that nearly every age group utilizes – from school-age children to grandparents. To be a part of Facebook, you must create a personal user profile. This profile becomes your Facebook identity, and you’re in control of how much information you share with other Facebook users. Once you have become established on Facebook, you can search Facebook’s database for friends, colleagues, celebrities, companies or anyone or thing you have an interest in finding.
How Businesses Use Facebook
Once you have established a personal profile on Facebook, you then have the ability to set up a business profile. Facebook business pages are like mini websites, but give the administrator(s) the ability to reach out to those who are connected to the business page via wall posts. Creating a business page on Facebook is relatively simple, however establishing the desired connections with customers and prospects requires work. Facebook also offers advertising opportunities (they have to make money somehow!), which are similar to search engine pay-per-click ads. The advertiser creates the ad, chooses its geographic and demographic reach, and sets a daily budget using a credit card. Ads can either connect to the businesses Facebook page, or out to their website.
YouTube
YouTube is a place where anyone and everyone can post video content to share with the world. Unlike Facebook, you do not need to create a user profile to view the content on YouTube, making it accessible to anyone with an internet connection. In order to post video content to YouTube, you must create a YouTube channel. Like all of the social media sites covered in this article, there is no cost to creating a YouTube channel.
How Businesses Use YouTube
Businesses use YouTube in a variety of ways. Businesses often post how-to or other instructional videos intended to engage their audience more deeply in what they do and how they do it. While some may view this as giving away trade secrets, others find that transparency in what they do actually increases their customer base – particularly when people realize just how difficult it can be to do something that they originally considered a DIY project! Outside of instructional videos, businesses often post advertisements that are either highly entertaining or extended ads which are more like mini feature movies. Old Spice found great success in 2010 on YouTube with their entertaining ads – some with more than 30,000,000 views. Luxury brands like BMW and Tiffany and Company use extended movie-like ads to tell a story and immerse the viewer in an emotion.
Twitter
Unlike most social networks, Twitter is relatively one-sided. Where most social media invites interaction and comments, Twitter is a way for people – in 140 characters or less – to shout out some information and move on. From the mundane, to the outrageous, people will tweet just about anything. Whether or not anyone is listening to what is said is another story. In order for anyone to know what you have posted to Twitter, they must ‘follow’ you. Once a person has agreed to follow you on Twitter, your tweets will appear in their Twitter feed in real time when you post them. Information can gain viral attention on Twitter through its ‘Retweet’ feature. If something is tweeted and people want to ‘forward’ that information out to their followers, they simply click ‘Retweet’ and in the blink of an eye, it’s viral!
How Businesses Use Twitter
Twitter is successfully used by businesses who have cause to regularly distribute sought-after content. Obviously news outlets find Twitter useful in getting their stories out, but even small businesses may find connecting with customers via Twitter beneficial. A retail location, for example, may drive traffic to their store or their website by tweeting about a large or limited time sale. A business holding a conference may drive traffic to networking events or breakout sessions by tweeting the information to conference attendees. Or a nonprofit may increase donations by tweeting about a timely cause such as a natural disaster. Does every business need to tweet? No. But with a little thought and creativity, Twitter can be a quick and cost-effective way to reach many customers and prospects.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a way for people to connect for business. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn users do not generally share personal information, but use it strictly for business. Users can create a profile for themselves, and one for their business. Employees and customers can connect to the business page, and information can be distributed to those connections. LinkedIn has a wide variety off added features beneficial to connecting businesses such as discussions, industry groups, and presentation sharing. LinkedIn is often used by companies and recruiters to find new talent. It is also used to find goods and services.
The Pros and Cons of Getting Into Social Media
Many business owners are currently wondering if they should take the plunge into social media. It’s uncharted territory for most, and if they do it, they want to do it right. Here are some pros and cons that may help you decide whether social media is right for you.
Pros
- Each of the social media sites discussed in this article are free to join. Not many other marketing mediums come with a price tag like that!
- Information is distributed in real-time. Delivering up-to-the-minute information is as easy as typing and clicking.
- Engaging in discussions with customers is easy and beneficial to business. Many social media sites encourage feedback and comments, which can promote good word of mouth advertising. And if there are negative comments, you are able to respond to them promptly and show good customer service.
- Social media broadens your reach through viral marketing. It’s the old “she told two friends, then they told friends, and so on…” effect. Only through online social media, it happens much faster!
- Connect with customers on a more personal level. Social media allows you to connect with customers a little deeper, creating a more loyal following.
Cons
- It’s easy to offend. Because social media is more personal, people engage with you on their terms. They are wise to blatant promotion, and will disconnect from companies who simply push ad messages.
- If your business or industry typically gets negative public feedback, you can expect that 10-fold (or more) on social media.
- Social media requires continuous care. Having a presence of Facebook or Twitter requires regular updates and customer engagement. It’s definitely not a ‘set it and forget it’ ad medium.
Still not sure if social media is right for you? Take a look around on some social media sites and check out your competition. If they are there, are they doing it right? Are they seeing results? If they aren’t there, is that an opportunity or a red flag? Only you can decide, but taking a look around is most certainly a good first step.
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