By Nigel Payne, managing director, Assurant Intermediary
No, I assure you that I’m not insulting you. Rather, I’m referring to the digital world or what has become generally referred to as social media. Networks such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are the communications platform of choice for personal networking. And sites like LinkedIn have made inroads into the business culture as well.
In the business world, social media has become the current buzz word amongst marketers, and it seems as though you can’t consider any campaign without including an element of social media interaction. Although many firms still rely on traditional marketing channels, looking ahead there is no doubt that social media will become increasingly important as a marketing tool.
The pressure to jump in to social media may feel overwhelming, but when entering the social marketing arena, it’s important to plan carefully, just as you would with any marketing campaign. Use social media in the wrong way and you could find you have engaged a powerful enemy rather than a powerful ally for your business.
Consider this example from The Gap, a global clothing retailer. The Gap pulled its new logo just one week after launching it in response to the outpouring of detrimental comments on social media websites. These days, one witty tweet or negative blog mention picked up and retweeted or passed on in cyberspace can seriously damage a company’s reputation. And let’s not forget Kevin Pieterson, whose private whinge about being dropped from the England cricket team that he inadvertently shared with the tweeting world in general. Oops.
But suppose you could harness the power of social media to your company’s advantage? It could deliver significant benefit and get you in front of a whole new audience.
Here are a few things you may want to consider:
Own your own space
Do you have a Facebook page for your company with content that you can manage? What about a Twitter site that your audience can follow? If you don’t take control of your brand online, somebody else might do it for you, and the content might not be beneficial to you or your organization.
Watch your competitors
Seek out your competition through searches and industry forums. Customer feedback to the competition is one of the best ways to learn about your competition, and weaknesses.
Engage with your clients
A few years down the road it’s likely that most of the UK population won’t remember a world without social media. A company that doesn’t engage with customers in the way they want or are used to simply won’t get their business.
Build your client base
Anyone that follows your company online is showing an interest. Communicating with clients in the social media space has a much higher and more immediate impact than traditional marketing methods. One hotel comparison website had the same number of responses from an email to 2.2 million subscribers as it did from just 12,000 followers on Twitter.
Keep it simple and honest
It’s important to be genuine in your online posts. Don’t try too hard; otherwise you will look as awkward as a dad joining their daughter on the school disco dance floor! Make sure to present a consistent image of your company throughout all of your marketing channels.
If you want to influence people and win new business, social media can be a very powerful tool, but it can also be very dangerous if you get it wrong. Don’t go straight into dancing your version of the birdie song! Take small steps at first and find your feet into this world. With the right approach, it can pay big dividends.
