1. Extend Your Reach
Facebook and Twitter alone have hundreds of millions of users combined. That's two social media sites, out of the hundreds used on a daily basis. Wonder how that could convert to traffic on your company’s website? One social media site, Digg.com, is frequently known for what is called the “digg effect”. The Digg effect refers to having so much traffic sent to a site, (Via an article, story, etc) that it often times crashes the sites web server. (That’s one of the few reasons I wouldn’t mind our site going down!). That’s just one example.
2. Facebook, Not Faceless
Can you imagine people considering your company their friend? Have you as a consumer ever wanted to say something to the CEO of a company, complain, or thank them for great work or service? Social media and networking allows interactions that would typically not have ever happened in the world 10 years ago. The average person would never have a chance to interact with large companies. Now imagine a company that responds to every complaint , thanks you for recommending them or reviewing a product. They tell you first about promotions, new products, and events. Imagine seeing pictures of employees on outings, talking about company events, and family events. That company is no longer faceless, they are real people, and as consumers, we are much more likely to use a company that we feel a personal connection with.
3. Protect Your Company Reputation
Social networking, especially with sites like Twitter, can really help you to address negative feedback in a creative and constructive way. Example: I tweet that my server is being slow and I am using Rackspace hosting. Two minutes later, a Rackspace representative is tweeting back at me, asking me how they can help resolve the issue. Not only have they helped me with my problem, but they have displayed really great customer service for everyone to see.
4. Improve Customer Experience
In the above example, how do you think that you would feel if you were me, and your issue was responded to within a few minutes? It made me feel like Rackspace really cared about my issue, and valued my business. I didn’t have to send an email and wait for hours, or sit on hold for a CSR, I got my issue dealt with. This is an example of the type of customer experience you can provide with social networking, not to mention the reduced cost, and great exposure your company can receive. .
5. Branding / Name Recognition
The more people that see your company, the more business you will get. If you have 10,000 friends on facebook, those are 10,000 people that know who your company is, and recognize your name. If those 10,000 people tell 5 people about your company, and those 50,000 tell 5, you can see the power of social networking. The same holds true for other social networking sites. The fact is, that other companies in your industry are using these sites, and are interacting with potential customers. If your company doesn’t you are at a disadvantage.
6. Recruitment / Employment Opportunities
As we have discussed already, there are many people out there using social networking. Some of those people need jobs. If your company needs to fill a position, social networking is one of the best ways to find new and talented people (Especially those in creative/technology positions.) Placing your employment opportunities on social networking sites is free, will save you money, and can often fill your position much faster than traditional recruiting methods. A great TechCrunch article on some of the benefits can be found here.
7. Crisis Management
Social networking and media can allow your company to respond quickly and directly to all of your clients, and can help demonstrate to others that you are in control of the situation. Example: our hosting provider Rackspace had a serious outage. They used Twitter and social networking to post constant updates, and to address customer complaints and issues. This makes the customer feel good, because they are being updated. Nothing is worse than seeing a static page that says something like, “We are experiencing difficulties, please try back later”. Keep your customers updated on the crisis through social networking, and it will pay off.
8. Free
There are no direct costs associated with social networking. Posting articles, tweeting, facebook updates, all of these things have zero direct cost. You don’t have to pay a head hunter to fill that new position in your company, and you don’t have to advertise in the newspaper for help wanted. You can reduce your phone call volume, expedite support issues, and increase sales, all through social networking and social media.
