GET
SOCIAL:
How to navigate the social media landscape for business networking, PR
and marketing
by
Cara Good, WunderMarx|PR™
If you think social media is only for teens and tweens, think again. More than half of the visitors to social networking Web sites such as Facebook, Flickr and Live Journal are 35 and older, according to a recent industry report issued by Internet information provider comScore Inc. The social media landscape includes blogs, multimedia sites, social media news releases, news sharing and social networking sites.
The exponential rise of Internet tools that allow people to communicate more easily online also give companies desirable new ways to influence decision-makers, embrace decisive customer bases, and brand their products and services. Smart business owners and marketers today are embracing this phenomenon — known variously as the "social media," "social networking," "user-generated content" or simply "Web 2.0" — and shifting how they develop customer relationships, make business decisions, and even develop and market products.
Social media is a quickly maturing business tool, offering innovative ways to conduct commerce, communicate with customers, and manage public relations and marketing activities. A recent Institute for Corporate Productivity survey showed that 65 percent of business professionals are connecting to social networking Web sites, such as LinkedIn, Yahoo! 360° and Myspace. Savvy business professionals are using social media to build their personal brands, too. Social networks are as diverse as real-world communities and the people who inhabit them. Consider adopting social networking to expand your market reach and viability in the following ways:
- Build your brand — Use social networks to publish content and amass subject matter expertise
- Unite online and offline marketing efforts — Create offline campaigns that have an online component, such as registration
- Test new products and services — Demo and validate an idea before investing significant resources
- Enhance customer loyalty — Unite people online who share a common enthusiasm for your brand
- Connect virally — Try services such as Plaxo, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, Live Journal and Yahoo! 360°
- Target the media — Leave comments on journalists' blogs, such as those on The Orange County Register Web site
- Decrease marketing costs — Don't incur the expense of printing marketing collateral
- Grow customer base — Ask your customers to tell a friend about your company
- Experiment with marketing campaigns — Learn what drives customers' purchasing decisions
- Obtain unbiased customer feedback — Seek opinions online; customers are less likely to be influenced by other members of an in-person focus group
- Increase Web site traffic — Boost the search engine optimization (SEO) value of your Web site with fresh new content from daily blog entries
- Boost revenue through ad sales — Monetize social audiences with online advertising and scaled subscription models
Cara Good is a proven business strategist with nearly 15 years of experience in media, marketing and communications. She has been quoted or featured in numerous articles on entrepreneurialism, the convergence of technology in business communications and the role of public relations in brand-building, and she speaks frequently to business, civic and academic organizations on these topics. Cara co-founded WunderMarx|PR™ Inc. in 2002 and has grown it into one of the top 25 public relations agencies in Orange County, Calif. WunderMarx|PR works with innovators to create preference for their products, services and ideas through the development and communication of their brands. Learn more at www.wundermarx.com.