Social Networking: Are You "Socializing" to Your Advantage?

By: Randy Gold

Everyone from President Obama, to your children, to your mother is posting status updates, reconnecting with high school classmates and meeting new people through social networking websites each day.  Seemingly overnight, social networking gobbled up headlines in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and other influential newspapers and has been the subject of feature segments on all major news networks.

The power and significance of social networking is so large that corporate America has turned to the medium to bolster its brands, engage customers and ultimately drive revenues, but how do companies leverage a concept that is emerging and evolving at the same time?

What is Social Media?

Social media refers to a collection of websites based on user participation and user-generated content for the purpose of connecting like-minded individuals. The most popular and general examples are Facebook, Twitter, My Space and LinkedIn which all began with the simple objective of bringing people together in a fun, easy, efficient manner. Resulting from the medium's rapid growth and rise in credibility, businesses have begun understanding and utilizing the power of marketing via social media networking sites.

According to leading customer intelligence analyst, The Nielsen Company, 67 percent of all Internet users visit social media sites, with Facebook boasting more than 50 million registered users in the U.S. and LinkedIn welcoming 35 million members – a new member joining every second. While many social networking sites were originally popularized by younger audiences they have more recently captured the attention the entire Internet public.

How Can Social Media Impact My Business?

If used correctly, social media can be one of the most strategic marketing and sales tools a business uses - and the best part is that it's nearly free.

Social media marketing provides a forum, where if optimized properly, brands can understand its customers, receive solicited and unsolicited feedback and provide institutional knowledge to the group. These forums potentially act as focus groups that grow organically based on the thoughts of consumers.

Online communities also greatly assist marketers allowing them to focus on messaging rather than seeking out their target audience because in many cases, the customer has already self-identified by joining a specific network or community focused on a particular family of products or services.

At a recent roundtable breakfast hosted by our firm, featured speakers Michael Koziol, CEO of Drangonfruit Studios, a multi-platform entertainment and media company in Atlanta, and Jeffrey Gold, Founder and Principal at Experior Marketing, a brand management and strategy firm also in Atlanta, discussed the relevance of social networking in today's business economy.

Koziol, who founded, built and sold one of Atlanta's most successful digital marketing agencies, AntFarm, noted that social media marketing brings the consumer closer to the brand by, "allowing consumers to influence the brand in a way they've never done before." He explained that essentially, you're giving customers the authority to take part in your brand's growth.

Gold continued by saying, "Social media marketing empowers consumers to become brand advocates in a more widespread capacity than the traditional word of mouth spread by friends getting together for coffee."

Traditionally, a business' brand manager controls the positioning and messaging in the conventional "talk to" strategy that historically brought success to many companies. The long-established marketing model was a commercial on television or a magazine ad; however, social media is forcing change by shifting the voice of and the way brands are promoted – now, like never before, the audience has a powerful ability to talk back. Often times causing the brand manager to sit on the sideline as a bystander in the conversation.

One interesting example furthering evidence of companies relinquishing brand control is The Coca-Cola Company, known for its utmost security of its brand. Coca-Cola had little success with social networking until a  "fan page" emerged from the hands of an out-of-work writer who simply liked drinking Coke. That page, not owned or controlled by Coke, became the most successful fan page on Facebook (3.3 million members) through viral marketing while defying the rules of traditional advertising and stunned execs who spent millions on 'inside the box' campaigns.

Lead generation is also a valuable result social media progress has given marketers and salespeople alike. Through resources like LinkedIn, a professional networking website, salespeople may uncover connections they have at a targeted prospect and learn about that target company. For example a salesperson can search for connections to a company by company name, product or service offering or by people directly. Similar to pyramid marketing the power of LinkedIn is that your personal network grows exponentially when you add contacts. A user that has 200 contacts in LinkedIn may have access to 45,000 connections through second tier contacts and links to 3,000,000 connections a third level down.

It Can't Be That Easy, Can It?

The short answer is, yes, it can be that easy. The long answer is, no, it's incredibly difficult. While anyone can set up a profile on a social networking site, with it comes great responsibility. When managed properly – and knowing the easily avoidable obstacles – businesses have much to gain. There are rules of engagement that when properly used prove social media can be a goldmine for any business, large or small. Gold and Koziol offered the following guiding principles about the social media landscape:

1. You're Not In Control – "With social networking, a consumer can respond immediately. You must be prepared for all types of replies," said Gold. Feedback is king when it comes to launching an online campaign, slogan, product or service. And of course, while you want it all to be good, negative feedback can offer its rewards as well by creating a buzz. Knowing that you're not in control of the medium is imperative as anything you present is fodder for consumers. Take heed: once your brand is out there, it can be manipulated.
2. Transparency Rules - Savvy online users know what's real and what's not in the world of social networking. For instance, if you've recently started a blog and plant both questions and answers about your new product or service using a fake name, people will see through this, therefore, ending your credibility. The key to gaining acceptance online is to be genuinely interested in helping others. Creating a company blog that offers tips and advice about your area of expertise is a great way to start. Commenting on other like minded blogs is another way to build brand awareness. But simply planting 'fake' questions and comments on as many sites as possible is a quick and easy way to get blackballed by the online community. You'll be respected if you are open and honest about yourself, your business and your intentions.
3. Think About Friendship Equity – Establishing an online social networking presence is a lot like building a friendship. You have to cultivate the relationship to make it grow. This means actively answering posts, responding to questions, asking questions, introducing new (and useful) material and becoming a trustworthy source of information for your consumers and anyone else in cyberspace who may look to you for advice. Neglect the friendship and it will go away. Keep it fresh, feed it, and people will return for more.
4. Don't Think of Social Networking as an Advertising Medium – "This is a surefire way to lose customers," says Gold. "Social networking is a customer relationship management platform." Statistics show that people who use social networking sites overtly for sales are quick to be put in the "spammer" category.
5. Show Sensitive Thought Leadership –Based on the amount of traffic social networking sites receive, anyone has the opportunity to be the defacto expert. But if you're a real expert, why not use it to your advantage? Offer unique ideas and tips – even use humor – to gain the respect and approval of your constituents. Don't be afraid to try new things, but again, be aware that anything you do can be used against you.

Which social networking sites are best for you? There are general and highly targeted sites out there, but the three that have dominated the market include:

1. Facebook – With more than 175 million active global users, Facebook allows users to create a personal profile equipped with room for family photos, personal information, likes and dislikes, religious and dating preferences, marital status and anything else you care to share with your private network. Keys to Facebook's success are the "status update" for users to tell their network what they are doing or thinking and that connections to other users must be mutual. Only those that you want to see your profile will have that ability. Businesses use Facebook to create fan pages for consumers to discuss the brand and to announce new offerings. See Starbucks as a good example of a corporate-run fan page.
2. Twitter – One of the fastest growing web applications in the world, Twitter, said Gold is "simply one big status update." Similar to a blog, users who have an affinity for your status updates can choose to 'Follow You' online, and will be notified of your status every time you change it. Business professionals using the status update can post helpful information or tips of the day that others may find worthy of "following." Unlike Facebook there is no mutual agreement between users to follow each other. Also, unlike Facebook, status updates are searchable which is important for marketers seeking target audiences. It is anticipated that by year's end, Twitter will have more searches than the monolith search engine Google.
3. LinkedIn- LinkedIn was started as a professional tool to connect business people. Featuring company information, resumes and contacts, people can search public profiles and find friends or colleagues to request a personal connection. Once the contact is agreed upon, additional information is accessible to both individuals. LinkedIn offers a searchable resume database and is a helpful tool for recruiters looking for inside scoop on a potential employee, as well as a unique way for potential job candidates or salespeople to seek out decision makers within a company to find a direct way of connecting with them.

Gold warns, "While social networking is a fun and alternative way to create an online presence, those who are doing so for business purposes should be careful about getting too comfortable online." He continued that there are many stories of users being to loose tongued and either losing business or their jobs.

The two main keys to success are to be yourself – behave online the same way you would behave in public – and to remember that you're not just building a list of contacts, you're building relationships.

Visit AGH online at http://www.aghllc.com/, LinkedIn and Twitter.