Social Media Gets Down to Business
January 18, 2010 by Nate Winter
There’s a lot of talk about how businesses are leveraging the influence of social media, but I haven’t noticed any real nuts-and-bolts explanations about how it’s all being accomplished. So the focus of this post is explaining the business benefits of a few different social media vehicles-- Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter-- and helping you get them set up.
So let’s start by looking at what social media can do for your business. I’ll explain the specifics later, but ultimately, using social media gives your business a larger role in the day-to-day lives of your customers. And over time that means more business for you when the customer is ready to buy.
A more tactical advantage is that social media increases your web footprint. The bigger your footprint (in the right places obviously), the more findable your business is and the more reputable it seems. This social media optimization (SMO) makes your brand easier to find on social media sites and in search engines. And being found is the first step to connecting with people online.
Facebook
You may have a personal profile on Facebook, but that doesn’t mean your business should follow suit-- not exactly, anyway. The preferred type of Facebook presence for businesses and organizations is a “page,” rather than a personal profile. Here’s the link to set up a Facebook page for your business. Pages function very similarly to personal profiles, so it shouldn’t take long to get it going. Your status updates even appear in the News Feeds of your business’s friend network, keeping you top of mind every time you post.
Pages are a newer and lesser-known development, so many businesses use Facebook groups-- the other popular option for businesses-- instead. Groups are better suited to clubs, teams and usually smaller, more personal social circles. You need an existing personal Facebook profile to set up a group. A big plus is that group administrators can send messages to the inbox of every group member-- this makes some communications easier and more direct. To set up a group, follow these instructions from Facebook.
Once your page or group is set up, you need to reach out and begin building your network, just like you did when you started your personal Facebook profile. To connect with other Facebook users, you invite them to become a fan of your business (if you have a page), or to join your group (if you set up a group for your business). When users accept, they’re part of your network.
From there, you can send messages, news updates, event invitations and other stuff directly to your network. Maybe you’ll use Facebook to distribute your company newsletter that explains what you’ve been up to lately. Or use it to tell customers about a sale or a special you’re having so they can take advantage of it. Or to invite people to an event you’re hosting and put together the guest list using RSVPs from the Facebook event invitation.
LinkedIn
Facebook was created for social use and then evolved to include businesses. LinkedIn, on the other hand, has been about professional networking since day one, and that’s still where its strength lies. LinkedIn is a natural fit for the more professional side of most businesses.
Like Facebook, LinkedIn offers separate profiles appropriate for individuals and companies. So make sure your employees have individual profiles and your business has a company profile. To set up a company profile on LinkedIn, read this FAQ entry.
LinkedIn’s true strength is in a human resources capacity, since you can review people’s backgrounds and recommendations as you meet them. It’s a great tool for keeping potential employees organized and for asking existing employees to refer their friends and former colleagues.
LinkedIn has added a status update function, which makes looking for new team members even easier. If there’s a position open, update your status with something like “We need a web designer: mid-to senior-level, B2B experience, stellar online portfolio. If you know someone, send them our way!” Status updates also work for news bites and other PR-related notes.
Twitter
Where Facebook offers myriad applications and functions, Twitter is far more pared down. It’s all text and only 140 characters of it at a time-- simple, right? Well, sometimes. While Twitter’s insistence on brevity means bite-size messages, it also leads to character-saving syntax and abbreviations that can confuse and intimidate the new user. However Twitter’s help resources provide easy explanations for the most common Twitter-specific syntax such as @replies, hashtags and retweets.
Twitter is really good for making quick contact with people. Some of the best corporate uses of Twitter are for PR, customer service and HR. Whatever the news is on your company, post a tweet about it. If there’s a lot of information, just tweet the headline and include a link to the full article. If your link URL is too long for Twitter’s 140-character limit, use a URL shortener like http://bit.ly or http://is.gd to shrink it down to size.
Companies also use Twitter for customer service help. While online FAQs and forums provide a wealth of knowledge, it’s not always so easy to find the specific answer you’re looking for. This is where Twitter-enabled customer service like Best Buy’s twelpforce can really shine. These people are armed and ready with quick answers and URLs for whatever info you seek.
Twitter can also help human resources with recruiting. Post tweets about the positions you’re hiring for, similar to the LinkedIn status update example above, and let the Twitterverse refer tons of people to you.
Blogs
Blogs are really important too. And they overlap with with the social media stuff I’ve mentioned above. However, Pomeganda’s own Renee Gannon has already offered an excellent series of articles explaining how blogging can work for your business. So if you’re seeking that information, I leave you in Renee’s capable hands with The Comprehensive Guide to Promoting Your Business with a Blog Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
Note: Pomegranate is highly experienced in developing social media for businesses, and can offer all of the best-practice elements mentioned above. To learn more about how Pomegranate can create value for your business, please visit our website.
