Are you a small startup company, about to join the
Social media marketing world? Then you are at the right place.
Small businesses need to have a customer oriented strategy in order to compete with the bigwigs. Their survival is highly dependent on how well they can understand and adapt to the customer needs. Having a customer focused service and model will enable these companies to succeed.
Social Media is one
of the marketing channels, which will help company build relationships with
their customers, create competitive advantage, and establish industry
credibility. Social media has
evolved. Initially it was perceived as ”Facebook and twitter are for kids and
companies do not use it”. I remember, few years back when I was working for a
hospitality company, I had shared the idea of creating a company page on
facebook, my manager felt facebook was not for companies. Times have changed. Many
successful companies like Walmart, Dell, started using social media strategy
for B2C. People thought social media works for B2C, it may not work for B2B.
Well, not anymore, companies like Cisco, IBM use social media for B2B.
There are various social media tools which companies can
use like websites, blogs, LinkedIn, facebook, twitter, youtube to communicate
with the customers.
Steps to use Social
media:
- Identify what are the company’s objectives
for using social media.
- Know who your customers are. Find out what is
it that the customers want.
- Play the role of thought leader, solutions provider. It should provide content
which is useful and interesting. If you provide the content that the customers find
relevant and useful, use can potentially get a business or a lead.
In
many companies, B2B decision makers use social media somewhere
in their buying process and
yet, they struggle to show results. Sometimes, there is confusion over whether
social media is a marketing or PR activity or customer service.
Some
of important points which should be considered before B2B companies jump into social
media marketing.
- Social media should be used for interaction
and knowledge sharing. A selling approach is not only ineffective, but it can
also damage a company's image.
- Social media takes time to show
results. It takes time to develop relationships.
- Social media requires time and effort. Twitter should chirp
all the time. Regular post should be added in the blog.
- Blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and
other social media tools should be used to build a network of influencers who
will endorse and provide credibility to your content and pull customers.
- You can't control every
conversation about your company in social media, but you can help shape them,
address issues and provide a platform for customers to share their experiences.
Reference/source: http://internetmedialabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Social-Media-Takes-Time.jpg
http://blogs.thenews.com.pk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/social_media.jpg
