Business & the Future of Social Technology

There are 1.5 billion social network users world-wide.  According to a global survey conducted by McKinsey&Company, businesses can, not only benefit from social media, but actually become more productive in the process.  

By utilizing web 2.0, as social media is often referred, businesses can virtually eliminate the wait time created when using traditional methods of business communications such as e-mail and instant messaging.  In fact according to the survey, 72 percent of the companies reported that they used some form of social technology in their day to day business.  90 percent of these businesses reported a benefit from the use of social networking technologies.

Who is using social networking? Not as many people as there should be.  The highest percentage of social technology users were middle managers at 65 percent.  Frontline users were not far behind at 60 percent. As businesses begin to utilize social networking technologies as a way to connect with their customers, it is fast becoming the trend in marketing and customer service. According to the survey, 35 percent of businesses are using social networking for customer service.

Depending how much Web 2.0 technologies are integrated into the infrastructure of the business, the benefits can range.  What can be said about using social network technologies in business is that the more “networked” a business is, the more benefits they will see—internally as well as in their customer base.  Customers are way ahead of businesses on the social networking front and businesses have a lot of catching up to do.

Using social networking both internally and externally in business can increase the speed at which information is obtained—as much as a 30% improvement according to the survey.  It can also reduce communication costs, decrease travel costs, reduce operating costs, and increase the effectiveness of marketing.

Read More

The Social Media Beast

Social media is taking over—from opinion blogs to social networking websites, even viable news sources are now utilizing these tools to communicate information instantly to millions upon millions of people. Where else can you reach such a large audience so easily? And, with most social media and networking sites, for free!

Businesses can now tweet about their products, company events, and organizations that the company is involved in, such as conferences and charities, to send information instantly to their consumer market. Customers can connect to businesses in a new way through websites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and blog sites like Blogspot, LiveJournal, and WordPress. Through becoming an organization's "friend" on Facebook, customers can have a direct link to that company, establishing communication. Businesses can also utilize these sites to not only increase interest in their company, but also to gauge customer satisfaction with their product and gain valuable feedback.

The problem with social media is the very thing that makes it so appealing: its ability to reach so many people and draw interest. Social media can become a hungry monster, a wild beast; fueled by the public's opinions and interests, it can turn on a company just as easily as it can hoist a business up. The ability to post information that can be read instantaneously by millions of people, and subsequently influence other's opinions, makes it a potentially powerful marketing machine, or the Public Relations Department's worst nightmare. Remember, not everyone does the research to find out whether information on the Internet is true, which means that even if information is negative and false, people might still believe it. Jumping into social media is like grabbing a bull by the horns (although if you're careful and aware of the possible pitfalls, your company has the potential to profit exponentially from using these tools).

For those of you who have used social media tools to market yourselves or a business, we want to hear from you! How do you use social media to communicate with your consumer base? Do you find this to be a successful method of accurately representing and promoting your business? Have you had any negative experiences using social media as a promotional technique?

Check out our courses on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter to get started utilizing social media!

Read More