twitter And Other Social Media: Strategies That Generate Income And Savings

We’ve noticed a daily buzz among professionals trying to decide what to do with social media in our offline discussions and in hundreds of online comments we’ve reviewed. In our latest conversation with The Wall Street Journal This Morning we discussed that much of twitter’s growth is being driven by the media because of their emphasis on it.

As a consequence of the rush to be on social networks we’re now seeing a disparity between the millions who are flocking to twitter (and other social networks) and the understanding of what good they can offer. It’s time to move social media from the realms of the specialists into the ranks of mainstream business innovation, creativity and strategically sound business model requirements.

Social Media And Social Networks – If Only It Were A Fad

Our research indicates social media has transitioned from being a youth driven trend that exploded with MySpace and Facebook into a legitimate business-to-consumer and business-to-business communication/media channels. Why? Encarta defines a fad as, “a short-lived fashion: something that is embraced very enthusiastically for a short time...” The definition of a ‘short time’ can be debated but the numbers of growing global participants can not.

While we don’t have a decade of history behind the mega social networks, there is a global movement which cannot be ignored. Nielson Wire says “Two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit social networking or blogging sites… according to a new Nielsen report “Global Faces and Networked Places.” …that percentage is likely to grow as time spent on social network and blogging sites is growing more than three times the rate of overall Internet growth.”

A Tsunami Of Communication Change^©

We believe we are in a tsunami of business and social communication change. That’s a fairly dramatic term but if you look at the statistics on how many millions of people are moving with the current shift it would be an understatement to say that this force of nature is simply a passing storm. As executives, managers and entrepreneurs talk in boardrooms, across water coolers and over coffee the question needs to shift from, “what is social media and is it right for us” to “let’s understand how these things work and figure out how we can be leaders in our industry as we innovate and embrace change.”


What Can Social Media Do For Your Business?

- Reduced real ad spend. In most cases it will cost $10-$20 to drive one new visitor to your website. With social media it’s possible to talk to hundreds and thousands with no ad spend. For example gaining 3,000 visitors in a day or a week could be equal to actual ad spend of $30,000  to $60,000 in real cash. That’s a precious impact on the bottom line.

- Take target marketing to its next level. In the past we used direct mail to get to that one-to-one relationship with the customer. Social media enables companies to connect in real time with no material costs while reducing paper/packaging waste as good stewards supporting a green environment. What’s more clients can now interact with your communication and a group of inspired participants can make your campaign go viral as they tell dozens or thousands of contacts about your idea without any further work on your side.

- Creating value to maintain client loyalty and partnership. Think of how many phone calls, mailers, and visits are required to give your customers more useful information on how to use your products and services. With social media it’s possible to really partner with clients/suppliers with the least amount of effort and provide a maximum way to help these parties thrive and see the uniqueness of what you do.

- Invaluable client based collaboration. As your relationship with your customers grows your company will find communication becomes interactive as your clients tell you what they want, where you miss the mark and give you ideas that turn back into real sales income or improved operations.

- Forget about being a social media specialist be your own brand. Part of what we see really holding people back is that they don’t quite know what to say. That’s a tragic way to approach this opportunity. Consider quite simply that the same way you project “a brand personality” with your company’s image and communication policies your clients want you to still be the same way in their social network. Don’t be something you’re not.

- Extend the penetration, duration and reach of advertising or communication campaigns. By including your URL’s with your advertising you can move your recipients into interaction versus “push” communication (only responding to ads sent).

- Take advantage of free while it lasts. We believe in the next 24 months the landscape of the now free social media will dramatically change. This is already seen in the evolution of Google which once was free and Facebook that now has business services. Never in modern history has it been possible to communicate with such regular and interactive frequency without significant ad spend. Building loyalty online is like offline relationships, it takes time: start to entrench relationships so they’ll follow your company as the social media landscape changes.

Need Support To Get Started? - Should your organization wish to obtain the support of the author for speaking or launching a social media program contact Andrew Ballenthin, President of Sol Solutions – 416.317.7313 andrew@solsolutions.ca.

All rights reserved. © Sol Solutions 2009.

Comments

[E.G. Sebastian]

Thanks - Great article!

Finally some content that one can take and apply to generate some quality prospects and ultimately sales.

Thanks!

[Web Community Software]

how exciting to see the Internet "molded" by the global community.
sandy

[Karen G]

Great article... Thanks!
Karen
www.SwingSetFitness.com

[Chris Baboolal]

@ Jason: You illustrate a good point, but you've got to applaud Twitter for wrapping a modified framework around a mechanism which is essentially just mass text-messaging. Given that, I don't think it's necessarily "the power of Twitter" itself that's worth recognizing, but rather how easily Twitter can catalyze the connection between a brand and an audience.

[Lakkineni]

Excellent post.. lots of tips

Thanks

[Tim]

Great article about the power of social media and especially in the savings available to businesses because of it.

Networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are essential to a social marketing campaign, but more so in building brand, authority, trust, and confidence. Businesses definitely need to embrace the current shift and take advantage of what social networking can bring to the bottom line.

[Jason Small]

Great article - truly, the next massive social empire will incorporate the latest technology with the leverage of revenue in a win/win scenario.

The power of Twitter is undeniable. Consider that a celebrity (i.e. Jay Z) can have thousands of followers and, at a moments notice, ask them to take a specific action in order to show their support.

Flash mobs will become much more possible.

Advertisers who recognize this and therefore seek to leverage the potential exposure it can create (hopefully positive exposure) will be the next generation of creative progressives.

I hope to be one.

Jason

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