THREE on 3 Social Media
Three experts on the spot for 3 questions
If your business, big or small, isn’t engaging in social media, it’s missing out.
That’s the opinion of local experts who have helped businesses utilize social media, or have used websites such as Facebook and Twitter for their own professional development.
Social media shouldn’t be a business’s complete marketing plan, they said, but it can help companies interact with the public in ways that were previously unavailable.
A pair of social media consultants and a business owner gave their views on why businesses should embrace the technology.
founder and CEO, One Social Media LLC
He’s a self-described social marketing evangelist, and was featured in a social marketing book by Jeffrey Gitomer. Soto is currently writing a book titled “The Social Truth” with the goal of humanizing social media and showing how to make social media marketing work for businesses.
How important is social media to business development?
Social media isn’t something you add to your marketing. It has now become an integrated part of your marketing process, not a separate addition. Business development is about making new connections, building relationships with prospects, vendors and strategic partners. Social media opens the door for you to do that unlike any other marketing medium prior. If a business isn’t generating leads and ultimately new business through social media marketing, they are missing an important component of business development in today’s world.
How should businesses use Facebook and Twitter differently?
Facebook appeals to people because it creates the environment for you to connect with friends, family, celebrities and, of course, now brands and the people behind them. Facebook gives you the platform to build your own community, which can allow businesses to now connect with people at a more grassroots level, giving prospects and customers a voice like never before. Twitter is perhaps the most misunderstood social media tool. The responses on Twitter tend to be more immediate, and the reach of your message can spread very quickly.
What is the biggest mistake you are seeing in how businesses use social media?
There are two mistakes that stand out the most in my experience. Many people think social media should be a way for them to promote their business, shout their message on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Over-promotion works against you. People want to connect with people using social media, not be sold to or solicited. The second-biggest mistake is not having a social media strategy.
director, Catchfire Media LLC
She has an extensive background in social media, as she was the director of new media for Colorfx and Rock Communications Ltd. She also managed marketing, communications and Web-based initiatives for First National Investment Banking.
How important is social media in business development?
From a general perspective, for most businesses, I would say, it’s completely critical to leverage social media to be successful in today’s marketplace. I think people know that this is where consumers are spending the majority of their time. When social media is used effectively, it allows you to really develop the customer relationship, but then leads you to be top of mind, which then leads to transactions and consumer loyalty.
Who benefits more from utilizing social media: small businesses or larger ones?
From a cost-efficiency perspective, smaller businesses are going to benefit more. Just like any other marketing initiative, social media can cost a lot or it can cost a little. It just depends on how you approach the space and the kind of resources that you have. Small businesses benefit just because social media can be hyperlocal, so you are reaching out to your direct local community and the local consumer. Though with the right tools and the right resources, a large business can benefit exponentially based on the fact of what they can find by employing listening tools online, and offering customer service outlets via social media.
What is the biggest mistake you are seeing that companies are making with their social media platforms?
Not engaging in results-based decision making. Virtually everything you do on the Web is measurable. The issue is that businesses aren’t actively listening and measuring their efforts on the social Web. So what we see most often is a business gets on Facebook to essentially be on Facebook. They’re not really applying a clear marketing strategy or communications strategy to what they’re doing.
Founder, Tikly Co.
Peterson recently launched her own start-up, Tikly Co., with the help of Dwolla Corp. founder Ben Milne, whom she met through using social media. She also does freelance work for a rock band, the Nadas, a job opening she originally found on Twitter, and with Cedar Falls video game company Phantom EFX, which originally gave her a job, she says, because of her social media savvy.
How important do you think social media is to business development?
I think that when it comes to business development, it’s important when you are just getting started, because it’s a fantastic way to just say, “We’re here.” At the start-up level, it’s a fantastic way to begin your story and share what’s going on, and to give some insight and comfort with your brand. It humanizes the experience, and I think that’s an incredible power. People can engage in your brand and what you are doing, and Twitter and Facebook are free. Why not use it?
What is the biggest difference of use between Facebook and Twitter?
I think it’s so different for who you are, what you are working on and who your audience is. Facebook is more like a showcase of what you’re doing. That’s what my clients have found to be appropriate. It’s just an opportunity to be your brand. Twitter, on the other hand, is a network. Twitter is where the Nadas might interact with a brand. We can talk about Nightfall on the River, but it’s all in this 140-character (message): Here’s what you need to know, here are links to these groups, and this is how it all comes together.
How instrumental is social media in making business connections?
For me, without Twitter and Facebook, I don’t know what I would be doing right now. Without Twitter, I wouldn’t have gotten an internship with the Nadas. I would never have thought that the connections I would make between Twitter and Facebook would shape my entire career, but so far it has. People want to hear more about Tikly because someone like Dwolla tweeted about us. We just live and breathe in this online sphere, and I have five meetings a day because of it. It’s just a huge change in my life story, and it’s all because I was tweeting and listening to what people were saying.
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