Why you should be using social networking
From a business point of view, the potential of social networking sites is immense. Dell reportedly made $3.5m from Twitter in less than six months - even though Twitter is ostensibly free of advertising. Key to maximising the sites efficiency is to use them in ways that the customer wants to receive your information. To use the Dell example, the company has created a page which runs daily offers on Dell products. Twitter users become ‘followers' of the page - because they want to see what offers Dell has. Importantly, the users become the advocates of the brand, in ways that can be much more effective than sending direct mail or placing adverts.
As another example consider Aleksandr Meerkat, the ubiquitous star of Compare the Meerkat's comparison site. A textbook exercise in how to create a great brand (entertaining, distinctive and loveable and able to create instant brand recall by repeating the name) Aleksandr has several thousand fans on Facebook.
One reason that a presence on social networking sites can be more effective than your own website is that it's vital to have a presence in the spaces your customers inhabit. If they are on Facebook or Twitter already it makes sense to try to communicate with them there. An email from you, for example, might be seen as spam - even if you've designed it to appeal to them. Information you've put on Facebook isn't spam (at least not yet), because the customer comes to you, rather than the other way round.
Not only is a presence on social networking sites seen as less intrusive, it's a more effective way of reaching your customers. There are several myths about the internet, and one of them is that everything is at ‘the click of a button'. As anyone who's tried to market a website will know, persuading a customer to click that button and visit your website is actually quite an investment. Getting people to visit somewhere new can be difficult; but it's much easier if they're on the website already.
The internet is enormous: by 2009 there were estimated to be well over 100 million websites, containing some 25 billion web pages. Faced with this enormity of scale, people do not tend to go ‘surfing the internet' - another myth of the digital age. What actually happens is that most people have nine or ten sites that they frequently visit. To go anywhere else requires investment. With that in mind, it makes sense for companies to try, wherever possible, to create a presence on these favored sites - and the social networking sites are the ones where any company, large or small, can successfully do so.
It's vital to have a presence in the spaces your customers inhabit
T-Mobile understood this when they ran their ‘flash mob' dance routines in London stations. When groups of seemingly immobile commuters burst into spontaneous dance routines, the buzz created was impressive. Yet in an unusual move, interested customers were not directed to the T-Mobile website, as would normally have been the case. They were directed towards the T-Mobile Facebook
page instead. This was a controversial decision, but achieved two desired results.
One, it drove up sales as hoped for. Secondly, T-Mobile was able to monitor and learn from what people were saying about them on the message boards. Social networking offers companies of all sizes the best kind of market research of all, because it shows you what real people are thinking, not just what they tell you when they fill in a questionnaire.
Getting it right
Learning the etiquette of social networks can make the difference between success and failure. As some evidence of this, consider Second Life. American Apparel saw the site as a good place to build a brand and make some sales. However, disgruntled by what they saw as an invasion of their space by corporates, the ‘Second Life Liberation Army' swiftly appeared, shooting anyone they saw wearing AA-branded clothes and setting fire to the stores. The customer wields the power - if they don't like what you're doing they can very quickly make life uncomfortable for you.
On the other hand, when Sainsbury's used Yahoo! answers to post recipe suggestions, the response was different. In a site meant for real people, not commercial posters like Sainsbury's, this could very easily have turned into another American Apparel scenario, with users feeling invaded. However, because Sainsbury's did it sensitively, posting helpful suggestions and not aggressively marketing the links towards the supermarket, it worked and customers enjoyed the suggestions.
A level playing field?
Small companies can use social networking sites just as effectively as large ones. If you're running a start-up, create a fan page and try to create a buzz by inviting your friends to join. If your marketing is good, it's likely that they will forward the invites to their friends too. We've all become cynical about marketing messages but we trust the word of a friend because it comes with more credibility and authority.
Try to make any campaigns you do viral. How do you make something as unexpectedly viral as the Cadbury's gorilla, though? One tip is to make it copyable - the gorilla has spawned lots of tributes and spoofs, which has kept the original in the public eye. Lots of parodies appeared - there's currently a version on Youtube of the gorilla drumming the theme from Eastenders.
Secondly, make it entertaining. For the small company, a viral campaign needn't be expensive. If it amuses the viewer, you can make a successful viral ad with no more resources than a camcorder and a good script. The take-out is clear: make it funny, make people want to forward it, and you could have a viral hit on your hands - whatever your budget.
It is clear that social networking sites offer smaller businesses an avenue to get their message and brand across to a wider audience without blowing the budget. By using social networking sites and ensuring the message is correctly targeted businesses can take advantage of this very 21st Century phenomenon.
For more information please visit www.cim.co.uk/training or contact 01628 427200.
