Corporate Use of Social Media

The above video certainly seems to be very keen for businesses to take to social media and not "miss an opportunity."

But why?

Social media has benefited businesses greatly over the past few years, mainly due to its ability to communicate personally with individuals within a worldwide audience.

Any previous method of advertising has had a one to many status.

With social media, users can personalise their profile and connect with the businesses they like.  Every update from that business will then appear on the user's feed, meaning that social media has brought about a one to one method of advertising.

So if businesses are only communicating with people who have "liked" or are "following" their social-networking page, how is social media really benefiting them?

The above infographic mentions traffic.

The more Facebook users that "share" or "re-tweet" a business' message, the more people that will start to "like" or "follow" that page, driving more traffic to their website.

The infographic also states that businesses should be using both Facebook and Twitter, as Facebook drives traffic, yet Twitter allows for more customer interaction.

But what does customer interaction mean?

According to the infographic, "small business social media accounts get on average more comments that personal accounts." 

Users have the ability to contact the business publicly using social media, as the posts they make are visible for all to see.

If a customer e-mails a business with a complaint, the business can choose to ignore it and, unless further action is taken by the consumer, no one has to know.  But on social media websites, everyone and anyone can see if a complaint has been ignored or handled incorrectly.

Businesses have no control over what a users says about them on social media, so surely they'd like to grab the opportunity to respond.

This method of one to one communication has meant that businesses have become very popular on social media websites, as the negative comments make the business seem more real.

References

Online Video

SocialStrategy1, 2011.  Social Strategy1 - Social Media Video [online video].  20 April. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHLMGXaR0Io&kw=social+media&ad=10383246475&feature=pyv [Accessed on 24 April 2012]

Infographic from webpage

VOSS, C., 2011. How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media Infographic [online]. London: TheChrisVossShow.com.  Available from: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthechrisvossshow.com%2Fhow-small-businesses-are-using-social-media-infographic%2F&ei=abGZT7bNGKep4gTow5zFBg&usg=AFQjCNF7HnWyBWMOQ7L3s-q_XKxm9rFZeA [ Accessed on 24 April 2012]