Social media is hot these days. Open up any recent issue of Time, Newsweek, The New York Times or Wall Street Journal, and there is sure to be an article about blogging, Facebook, or YouTube. From Mark Zuckerberg’s supposed genius (and potential liability) to everyday people earning accidental fame on Flickr, it seems to be all anyone can talk about. Everyone wants a piece of the action, as businesses scramble to implement blogs and create Facebook profiles.
But, what does the buzz boil down to? In business, we often look to the bottom line, what’s the ROI and how does it affect growth? Social media is hot because not only can it positively affect businesses from a financial and business development standpoint, but it creates COMMUNITY. The most important factor of social media is the SOCIAL part of it.
The community aspect of social media is what makes it special. The World Wide Web is a big place, and blogs and social networking sites help to make it smaller.
Take the
How do you find or create a community? It can be as simple as developing a strategically linked blogroll, or going a step further and creating a group on a site like Ning, which allows users to create a personalized social network (currently there are over 100,000), based on any interest from knitting to Sam Adams beer to American Idol. In fact, many entertainment and consumer focused companies are utilizing Ning to create groups to promote their products and shows.
These tools make it easier than ever to find groups with common interests and to share experiences with. For a small business, that is instrumental to establishing valuable relationships.
Who You Know: The Art of Networking
At the core, it’s not what you know; it’s who you know that makes you successful. Networking has always been important, as any PR professional and business entrepreneur will tell you. Social media is just making it easier to do that, and providing a way to narrow your networks to best benefit your business.
Social media is going to continue to affect the way that businesses approach marketing and public relations. It’s rare now to find a campaign that is not driven and influenced by social media. In order to successfully launch a website, companies now are also considering including a blog, a Myspace and/or Facebook profile, and even YouTube videos or podcasts as part of an integrated and accessible brand. The key is interaction, and allowing your consumers to be included in the business, and care about it as much as you do.
An example given last night by our own Geoff Livingston, speaking at the Smart Business Ideas Magazine Ready, Set, Grow! event, summarizes the benefit of creating community for business. Take two businesses, one that is wildly successful, and one that is doing mediocre sales. The successful business has owners that greet you at the door, remember your name, donate to the community, and create a friendly, personable and — most of all — memorable experience for their customers. Not only do they provide a service, but they develop a relationship. The mediocre store doesn’t do any of that.
Social media and social networking give people a sense of community and belonging. It’s a virtual support network, interactive message board, audience and consumer driven way to leave your footprint on the internet. The reason that social media and networking sites have taken off, is simply because people want to be heard. And, isn’t that the basis of what marketing is?
Social Media = technology people organization freedom.
Nice work, Larissa.
Sorry – there are supposed to be “plus-signs” in there, and the theme ate them.
Something for the upcoming Theme fix, Geoff..?
Interesting article. Thanks. Personally, Ning has been wonderful for me.
Thanks Ike, I do agree that social media is a combination of utilizing the technology and bringing people and organizations together. It’s the best way for businesses to grow their networks, and monitor competition all in one.
Jane – A great example of using Ning to promote and discuss a TV show!
“And, isn’t that the basis of what marketing is?”
I like the post. I really do. But buzz is likely the least significant measure of any measure.
Maybe its because I currently live in Las Vegas where buzz is big. Everybody has a new idea. Almost every company is growing by 300 percent. Networking is huge; and it might be a city, but much of it is in a small town envelope. So you have to be better than buzz to get anything off the ground. There is a big difference between the superficial social network friends and those that develop into longterm relationships. And that goes beyond buzz.
Buzz can be a metric for return on investment, especially when you are trying to change brand perception. The best way to measure the success of buzz is by having a perception and recognition research study conducted before a campaign begins and afterwards.
Microsoft’s evil empire image was replaced with a more human staid image as a result of its blogging. Jericho is trying to change the perception that no one watches it. etc., etc.
“Microsoft is not an evil empire because of blogging? That’s not true. What they have done with blogging is corralled the percentage of people who like them and created an entire virtual world of fandom. And now they are delusional because they only captured the 10 percent that love them. How has social media changed behavior of those who don’t? It didn’t because it wasn’t grounded in strategic planning to begin with.”
I disagree with that, Rich. You need to read Naked Conversations. Perception studies demonstrated the humanization of Microsoft. I have experienced this with my own clients’ social media campaigns. Clients like Goodwill, A Spoonful of Sin, FortiusOne. Do you have any personal social media campaigns that you can cite?
Why yes Geoff, several that I have not shared with you. I have dozens of e-mails from companies inspired by the giving examples on our community blog … people who did something with the information they were given.
The recent Bloggers Unite is a great example. Many of the bloggers did much more than sign up for buzz. There are others. But really, if this is discussion is going to take a personal turn, I’m happy to say you win. Keep doing what you are doing.
Just so Larissa knows, I didn’t know this was her first post. Welcome to Buzz Bin. As I said before, I liked the post. I just didn’t agree with everything. And because Geoff and I were talking about this very subject, I pointed that out. My mistake.
All my best,
Rich