This presentation provides a quick overview of the reasons for using social media in a business or professional setting. It focuses on Facebook and LinkedIn as two examples of social media services often used by businesses.
Thank Kayla and Heather for inviting me to speak. It is great to be back at a Rotary lunch again. Rotary is an organization with a proud heritage that does a lot of good works throughout the world.
Ask the questions: How many of you use Facebook? Twitter? LinkedIn? How many of you have watched a video on YouTube? Anyone joined Google+ yet?
We’ve seen a lot of technological change in our lifetimes. For many of us, our addiction to screens began with the TV set, but today TV is joined by computers, iPads, smartphones and game consoles. We’re spending time online for entertainment, news and to stay socially connected.
Just like radio didn’t die when TV came along, these traditional marketing channels still hold value. They may still need to be a part of your organization’s marketing mix, but if you are limiting yourself to only these channels, you are missing out.
The world has changed. We’re communicating with one another and obtaining information in different ways. A business today needs to at least consider using some of these tools to reach its customers, donors, volunteers or other target audiences.
No two organizations are alike or have exactly the same marketing needs. The challenge is finding what combination of old and new tools works best for you.
People are spending less time with traditional media – TV, radio and newspapers – and more time online with their computers, iPads and smartphones. When online, they are likely spending a good portion of that time on social media sites. If you want to go where you customers hang out, then you need to be engaged in social media. Let’s look at the size of Facebook, the most popular of the social media sites (next slide).
On the last bullet point, share the story of the man in Snyder who, when awakened by the recent earthquake there, said he grabbed his phone and got on Facebook to find out what was going on. Now let’s look at the second reason for using social media … (next slide)
Social media allows you to show more of you and your business’s personality. Social media encourages a two-way dialogue, where customers can respond to you online and comment about their experience with your business (which is usually overwhelmingly positive!)
Facebook’s fans definitely bond with the company, as you can see every day on the company’s Facebook page. Do they get negative comments? Sure, but they are drowned out by the overwhelmingly positive customer comments. Even the negative comments give the company “real time” customer feedback that is extremely valuable.
Social media has two sides to it – the public relations aspect of managing a Facebook page, posting comments on Twitter, etc. That side of social media is essentially free of charge, although you may want to hire help to manage the content on these sites. Social media also has advertising opportunities. They aren’t free, of course, but they are more cost-effective than traditional mass media advertising or direct mail. Both of my employers, ACU and First Financial Bank, use Facebook for advertising and are pleased with the results.
Now let’s look at the some of the benefits of using Facebook for your business.
How often you should post may depend on the size of your business and the time you can devote to social media, but you don’t want to start a website, Facebook page or other sites and then let them languish for weeks or months with no new information. Give your customers reasons to come back often.
On the next slide, let’s talk about another popular social media service, LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is more like an electronic version of your resume, but with many added features and benefits. It is all about business networking. LinkedIn is ideal for professionals and executives who might not feel comfortable on Facebook or Twitter.
Here are some resources to explore if you want to learn more about using Facebook and LinkedIn. You may also want to consider hiring a consultant or agency to set up or manage your social media marketing. That may be money well spent.