As Twitter, blogs and the many forms of social media continue to dominate all conversations about sales and marketing, Robroy still hears from doubting CEOs.
“Who cares if I’m hauling out the trash or playing with my kids on a snowy day?” they scoff. “Give me one good reason to take my company in this direction.”
Will you take twenty-one? Because that’s at least the number of fundamental changes in the way the marketplace communicates today. Here are some of the ways you can benefit from joining social media:
- Let people know who you are
- Reach people quickly
- Build company culture
- Give voice to the company’s personality
- Release new features and ideas
- Get the truth from the community, like a focus group
- Interact with users and fans with questions and comments
- Recruit talent
- Share company content
- Share customers’ content
- Generate Web traffic
- Get answers quickly
- Correct mistakes / improve products
- Stay informed on industry trends
- Get feedback on what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and what you should do next
- Make the company feel smaller and more cohesive
- Use as a sounding board
- Establish expertise
- Attract the media
- Humanize the company
- Build your brand
In the old days, no one expected to befriend a CEO, or know what he did with his personal time. Social media changes that. It makes everyone more accessible. And if everyone is accessible, including your competition, my friend, do you need another reason?
(How are you using it? Please comment below.)
By: Rob Macdonald aka Robroy
Rob Macdonald is a creative business consultant and writer. As the founder of Robroy & Company, LLC, he helps CEOs and their teams tell their stories in ways that inspire their audiences. His column appears in the Baltimore Business Journal.
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4 comments
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April 15, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Michelle Finzel
Rob, great points all! Our company is on FB, Twitter, and we are currently developing our own blog as well. Like any marketing or info-sharing effort, social media is not the end-all-be-all of sales ROI or brand recognition, but these avenues are great tools nonetheless. Plus, I myself learn so much from what other people post: about industry trends, about how my competitors are viewed and view others, and about new resources available to me.
As a small, market research company, when I established our presence on Twitter I figured fellow research contacts would be few and far between. Turns out I was already a bit behind and having to play catch up…
Michelle
April 16, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Robroy
Michelle, thank you for your thought-provoking comments. I agree that the tools are an amazing way to learn from others about industry trends, competitive analysis and resources that are available to your company. Great stuff and best of luck to you!
RR
April 16, 2010 at 8:12 pm
John Frizzera
Rob, great job here. You outline many action items and that’s what people need to realize: social media is social. It means you have to take action, to socialize. Many companies and individuals only take the first step and then let their accounts languish. Like anything else in business, you have to dedicate time to social media in order for it to work. I’ll be sending out this link to my clients and partners in the next several days. Great job!
April 17, 2010 at 1:49 am
Robroy
Thanks, John, glad you found the list helpful. You make an excellent point about the importance of keeping the “social” in social media. It requires interaction, which takes action! I think more businesses are waking up to that fact. ~RR