10 reasons for businesses to be on social media

Almost every company whose products/services I use in my daily life seems to be present in social media. I no more have to go to their website to get info about their latest product, plans or call/email them about my issues/problems with them. They are very much present in my social network. where I spend most of my time(Apart from work!). So its convenient and fast for me to get connect with them on social media and its potentially good for companies also to connect with their existing/prospective target audience.

That is why many companies are spending time, money, and other precious resources on social media marketing,sometimes, before even having an understanding of what it can do for them. That is why some companies are doing good in social media and some are not.

Companies should think about their goals before starting. Just because you have heard that other companies are doing it does not mean that social media will magically work for you also. Like any other marketing strategy, it takes sustenance and a clear vision of the bigger picture. Your tweets, posts and comments should all be coordinated to meet the ultimate goal, which is to establish trust, build your brand, engagements and increase sales.

So, to tap the potential of this platform, you first have to determine if social media can meet your goals and objectives. Following points illustrates as to how social media is important to your business.

1. It helps in creating awareness about your brand
2. It tells what people likes and  about their interests
3. It introduces your products/services
4. Connects with current/past and prospective customers
5. It helps to expand your reach
6. Its helpful in market research
7. It helps you to customize/improve your products/services
8. It helps you in pacifying your unhappy customers, real time
9. It gives an human element to your work
10. It makes you more accessible

Your current/prospective customers are out there on different social platforms across the web and are having conversations with or without you. You can opt to join in or not. But when you analyze about the potential that social media marketing offers, it may be well worth of your time to at least start exploring the possibilities.

Somebody Has to Say It – Successful Campaigns

Social media has become an integral part of every business strategy now a days. This is because of one obvious reason that organisations find their target audience there. I have observed many brands across the verticals as how they are using social media in number of ways. From market research, new product launch to after sales support.

On the other side customers are also getting benefited. Because they can get info about their brands, special offers, issues resolved etc. right at their favourite social networking site. So its a kind of win-win situation for both organisations and customers.

I have jotted down some of the points as what benefits an organisation can get with their presence in social media. It can be:

• To connect with their target audience.
• Brand building.
• Customer acquisition
•  Customer Interaction
              – With existing customers
              – With prospective customers
• Customer retention
•  Product Info
               – New product launch
               – Special offers
• Community building
• Issues redressals

The purpose could be any of the above, But the ultimate goal is to build credibility and aquire/retain customers.

If you learn how to use social media correctly then you’ll understand where your target audience is and what they are looking for. Now you can make them to look for you by creating right levle of engagement/interaction. So choosing which all social media is suitable for your business and how to approach them is the key.

What social media to choose? Well, it depend on many factors like your vertical, strategy, goal, requirements, expectations etc. Ogranisation generally use the following social media:

Blogs – like wordpress, blogspot, corporate blog etc.
Microblogs – like twitter, tumblr, google buzz etc.
Social networking – like facebook, linkedin, myspace etc.
Location based social networking – like foursquare, google place, facebook places etc.
Social bookmarking – like stumbleupon, friendfeed etc.
Socia news – like digg, mixx, reddit etc.
Photography and art sharing – like flickr, picasa etc.
Video sharing – like youtube, metacafe etc.
Presentation sharing – scribd, slideshare
Document sharing – like google docs, dropbox etc
Reviews – like burrp, talentequity.in
Community Q & A – like yahoo answers, quora
Forums – like citehr, stackoverflow etc.
Social Groups – yahoo groups, google groups

These social media are being used across all the verticals. Many organisations are already utilizing their presence and some are planning to start social networking.

In the next few posts, I will put across some successful campaigns across different industries/verticals.