Recently I sent out a simple questionnaire to some companies I am connected to on LinkedIn to get an idea on how organisations feel about social media and whether it is useful for their business.
I have learned and studied a lot about how companies need to have a Social Media Strategy when deciding to set up their social media channels as it is so time and resource intensive. I also know a lot of companies who have set up their social media accounts thinking they have now completed the task and put it in a box, forgetting that being 'Social' means actually interacting with their audience. They need to realise they are now only at the social media starting blocks!
The main social media platforms mentioned by companies in my reseach were LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and blogging. One company had a clear strategy when setting up their social media channels, whereas for most companies it was a case of trial and error and realising they should have a ‘presence’ on these platforms
Asking what specific objectives companies had when setting up their social media channels, the following were listed
· Market their business and skills
· Increase in membership
· To give something to prospective clients so they will want to contact the company
· Build up professional Network
· Advertising the company for free as no budget for paid advertising
· Building up an overall awareness and presence
· To have a certain number of followers by a certain date
· To have a certain number of connections by a certain date
· To have a regular minimum monthly blog presence
· To use LinkedIn as a networking tool, to create a large network so others would notice the company and make contact
· Keep the company in the minds of their audience so they will recommend to friends
· To have a captive audience when the company want to send out any special deals
Generally companies felt they had met the ‘presence’ objective by setting up their social media channels but felt they were not using social media to its full capacity. Companies also struggled to keep up the momentum with blogging and tweeting.
On a positive note companies felt they now had a captive audience so they could share up to date news or offers with their customers. There was a strong feeling that you have to keep up regular contact with your audience to stay in their minds
The majority of companies said social media had positively affected their business but there was a feeling they were not using it to its full potential to get peoples reviews, experience and recommendations.
When asked for some useful advice to give to other companies, I got some good practical tips.....
· Go on a course to save time in trying to get it right yourself
· Set weekly tasks, stick to them and maintain a regular feed to your channels
· Decide what you want to achieve
· Look at the resources you have before you start
· Decide on the type of content you want to share with your audience
· Keep your profile up to date as much as possible
· Build up your network as quickly as possible
· Don’t be scared of social media, give it a try and get going
· Try it – It is just another communication channel
