Why should I or my company participate in social media? That´s a question many are asking themselves these days. Isn´t it just rants and trouble? Is it really worth the risk or should I rather just leave it? Well, even though you decide not to take part in social media, your brand and reputation will. So if those matter to you, you should seriously consider a social marketing strategy.
I have listed here ten reasons why companies should engage in social media.
1. People will tell!
When the word goes out, it’s not just rotating around the kitchen table anymore. It’s rotating around the world. Or at least as far as your brand name travels. So you better be aware of what’s going on.
2. Power to the people
The revolution of the web 2.0 is that power has shifted away from the corporation to the people. They have the tools and the means to make you or break you. They are actually a world wide media empire.
3. Your Customer is Your Boss
The customers are running the show now so you better start listening to what they say. And you do that by participating in social media, building relationships and participating in the conversation.
4. Your Customer is NOT Your Boss
Controdictive? I know. The thing is, you still have a reputation and a brand to protect. That’s why you need to take part in the conversation. The character of your social media voice should reflect the character of your brand. Without sounding corporate – it’s the brands character we’re talking about.
5. Honesty is the best policy
You can’t run and you can’t hide. If you’re not honest, people will tell. But you will be surprised at how quickly people are willing to forgive if you’re straight with them.
6. It’s your new PR-tool
If you need to get a message out there, either about something you’ve achieved or a respond to some news or rumors, whether good or bad, social media is the fastest and most effective way to do so.
7. It’s your new marketing tool
No, not advertising. Marketing. Make your self available for your market, your target group. They use social media too. But do not, I repeat, DO NOT use it like a one stream advertising channel.
8. Your Blog is the Craddle of Your SEO
Search engines love blogs. They are frequently updated, usually with quality content and they are well linked (at least if they’re managed correctly). You can use the title of your articles for long tail keyword targeting. Each and everyone may not give you much traffic, but when you’ve written a new article every day for a year, you’ve got a great amount of text and keywords for the search engines, keywords that don’t belong on your corporate site.
Great articles tend to get quite a number of links as well, which increases your rank. Links building is a very important part of your SEO and a quality blog is one of the best link builders you can create.
9. Customer Relationship Management
Companies are the sum of the people that work there, but still just people. Communicate to your customers as a person representing your company, but not as a company representing the people working there. In other words, write under your name and status within the company and build a personal relationship with your customers via social media.
10. Respond to criticism
But never go into details in each case. Be polite. Apologize. Make a statement. Don’t go into arguements, rants, blames or personal information. Be professional.
If you´ve got more reasons to add or if you disagree with the ones listed above, share your views in the comments below.
Hjörtur
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Great list, thanks
Posted by: Yuce Zerey | July 01, 2008 at 05:53 PM
Although your post is nice and convincing, I think it's not worth spending too much time on those activities wither. You see, I believe this web2.0 stuff is a bubble or a fashion that will burst sooner or later.
Posted by: Tedel | July 02, 2008 at 04:29 PM
Thanks for the comments, Tedel and Yuce.
@Tedel There are many that share your view on social media being a bubble that will burst. I think in a way you're right, it will be a similar process like the internet. But the internet turned out to be much more than a bubble, though the hype did blow up and burst. So will social media. I believe it's here to stay though many social media sites will unite or close down.
Posted by: Hjörtur Smárason | July 07, 2008 at 03:45 PM
#10 is very spot on, but very hard to do in practice! Nice list
Posted by: Leah McChesney | July 15, 2008 at 01:43 AM
@Leah Thanks :) Number ten is where most company representatives fail when they engage in social media. It really tests your communication skills.
Posted by: Hjörtur Smárason | July 15, 2008 at 12:08 PM
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Posted by: Becky | July 31, 2008 at 03:24 PM