There is no denying the massive growth of social media. It’s become a huge part of our culture, with 10% of all time spent on the internet on social media sites. Whilst it’s important to get involved, with so many channels available it can be a little daunting at first. I joined the members of Brrism (Bristol Social Media) last week to discuss how different social media tools can be used most effectively.
(Attendees of Brrism 4: photo courtesy of Peter Tecks)
Why is it important to get involved with social media?
Social media is changing the way we communicate and effecting the way we do business, the statistics are clear:
Video showing many interesting social media statistics.
Connecting with customers, staff, colleagues and friends is not only much easier than ever before, but it’s become vital for customer experience and brand reputation. Whether you’ve started communicating with your customers through social media or not, you can bet that they are already talking about you.
With social media, people rapidly voice their complaints to the world. For example, 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands and 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. You can’t avoid being mentioned. You can’t just broadcast your messages without listening. The size of your organisation doesn’t matter. Embrace social media, proactively communicate with your audience in the right way and people might just sing your praises instead.
Which tools to use?
There has been an explosion of social media services over the past few years. With so many options it can be difficult to know which to use. This was one of the many topics discussed, and largely agreed by all at the Brrism meeting:
Use the tools that your audience use, in the right way.
This means understanding your audience and communicating with them where they feel comfortable. It also means understanding and adhering to the conventions of the system you are using. Here are some tips.
Twitter has become big news lately. It’s popularity has also soared, with a staggering 1,460% increase in visitors from June of 2008 to June of 2009. That puts visits somewhere in the region of 45 million per month. So what should it be used for?
This depends on your offering and your audience. Twitter allows you to broadcast short messages and links to anyone who cares to listen. This may be your friends, it may be your customers or future employer, so don’t Tweet anything you wouldn’t want anyone to hear you say out loud.
You may wish to have multiple Twitter identities for your different businesses, offerings and personal use. Alternatively, like me, you may wish to have just one, personal account used to connect with friends, family, colleagues and peers. The choice is yours.
Broadcasting yourself in such an open format can feel a scary. I know I was hesitant at first, unsure what to write and paranoid about making a faux pas. However, with a little discipline, I’ve found I’ve stopped worrying and am using it more and more.
Some of the ways in which I’ve found Twitter useful include:
- Finding news and blog postings – for me this has almost completely replaced directly visiting sites or using an RSS aggregator.
- Involvement without the hassle – the ability to comment on blog posts and sites without registering is great.
- Talking with the community, without being registered to an email list (an thus not having to unsubscribe for holidays).
- Customer service – a couple of mentions of company or product name, and before you know it, you can be directly in touch.
- Research – Tweet what your doing and someone may offer help and advice. It’s happened for me quite a few times.
- Connecting with like minded people – a well placed comment can be enough to get the conversation going.
…Oh, and letting my mother know, that although I’ve not been in touch for some time, I’m actually still alive and well, without needing to resort to an hour long phone call or a drive across town!
Facebook has become massively popular for connecting with friends and family, organising social events, and sharing photographs and video – it currently has over 300 million active users.
Whilst some brands have created Facebook profiles, it is not ideal for business use. Your friends can easily post inappropriate photos and messages that all your other friends can view. This could be disastrous if seeking employment or building a brand reputation. If you do use Facebook for business, keep your personal account separate and only allow your real friends to connect to your personal profile.
Linked-in
Linked-in is rapidly becoming the standard for business contacts and recruitment. Indeed, it’s been reported that 80% of companies use, or are planning to use LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees during the course of this year. Use it for business only.
Linked-in is a great place to find work, potential employees, customers and suppliers. It’s not a place for friends or idle chit-chat. Only allow business contacts – your clients and suppliers, colleagues and people in your profession or business networking groups. Ensure your information is clear, well written and professional. Think of it as your online CV and your business card wallet.
Privacy
This is a very important consideration. Think carefully about who can see your data. Have you published your address anywhere publicly accessible? If so, avoid Tweeting that you are on holiday for a week!
I would also advise not including your date of birth on any social network, as this could be used for identity theft. Personally, I’m also quite cagey about publishing my phone number or email address to avoid marketing calls and spam – although this may be an acceptable inconvenience if you are a business looking for contacts.
Follow these basic rules for all your social networking activity, use the right tools for your audience and you shouldn’t go far wrong. It’s well worth the effort.
