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Is social networking worth my company's time, given that we're primarily a business to consumer company?
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Definitely! There are things you can do with little effort and will not cost anything. My company now has a You Tube channel and we have set up accounts on Twitter for consumers to subscribe to so they can get hot news on forthcoming events etc. One thing we found to great benefit is to use the services of a work placement from a local school or college. This digital generation live and breath social networking and given the chance they would love to put this knowledge to good use!
Yes, social networking is worth your company's time, especially if you're a B2C. Think of online as simply a digital version of word of mouth. Or you could start a Facebook fan page, integrate pictures from Flickr of your work (with 'before' and 'after' shots), embed YouTube video about your company, put your flyer on your website, tweet a $5 off coupon exclusively on one of the social sites, etc. Look at http://twitter.com/BocaChirps/statuses/3246642394 for example (found via http://search.twitter.com/search?q=window+cleaning ) - there are plenty of people talking to each other about (good and bad) window cleaners and recommending. I would suggest finding out where your repeat customers are online (you could also do this yourself if you have an e-mail contact database for them) & expanding there.
A few ideas -- hope this was helpful.
Aki:
A similar kind of approach was made few months ago with one of my client, he was so much worrying about increasing his revenue by attracting new customers for his fleet servicing company, but he knows very well about social media services ( social networking technology) but was kept quite for a long time once he heard the cost of implementing one for him. but latter he went out and approached different set of companies and asked for how they can help him out for getting in new customers, many told him to implement new social networking websites, adding information in his website which could post on linkedin, facebook, fastpitch etc...Normally all those integration parts will be more expensive for starting level companies. But the best way we choose him to have internal blogging, and online forum chat which helped him to spread his messages across to the board and people in his network started referring his company for any kind of fleet services. this solution is cost effective and as days goes by he can also increase the bandwidth when his user level grows.
I hope this will help you to determine how to engage with social media.
I think it is more important and effective for a B2C company. I have seen examples or success stories of companies such as local ice cream shops, bakeries to KFC and Dell benefit from using social networking and marketing. Twitter to a level helps B2C as long as you understand its usage. I've included a link that can help you: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101
At Raahithi INC, we have helped companies such as Vasudeva Realtors and Goltripz.com in reaching out to their customers effectively by using social networking.
Hi Aki,
I'm not sure where you got the idea that B2B companies have more to gain or are more successful at leveraging social media than B2C. From my experience, it can be just the opposite.
After all, social media is just online word or mouth marketing. Plain and simple.
There are a number of things you can do on a local level to generate interest in your services. From couponing, and running contest for discounted services on Twitter to getting involved in local groups to talk to people about your services. (just don't bombard people with a sales pitch when others aren't there to be sold to.)
The first step is to find out where the conversations about your service are happening online (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc...) and joining those conversations by adding value (not "selling"). After you establish a presence, then you can start to offer benefits to those in the conversation in the form of coupons, incentives, tips, tricks, advice, etc...)
Good luck - I'm sure you'll figure it out!
-Jeff
Wow, what an amazing response. Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my question. I have taken value from everyone's comments and look forward to my future in social media. Thanks again for your responses and great insight.
-Aki
Hey AKI, a belated and brief reply...
I think it depends on your company, its customers, and how you can best engage these customers. I'd recommend reading Groundswell, although a slight warning I'd make about the book: there is an a priori assumption that companies *must* do this. Nonetheless, interesting case studies and probably some practical ideas, as well.
I would also say that you need to find relevant and appropriate ways to engage through social media. Too many companies are approaching it as another 'push' channel: we'll pump X messages through this medium and reap Y sales. These people will find themselves ignored or punished.
Good luck.
David King
http://blog.fulcrum-mktg.com
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You really need to look at each social media outlet and determine what is the time investment in order to get the return you want. Twitter seems to be a good vehicle for B2C business. I recently read this study about Fortune 100 companies that prefer Twitter to other outlets: http://fuelingnewbusiness.com/2009/08/05/4401/ But you have to look at your own business and ask yourself if people are going to be interested in what you post online.
If you were my client the first thing I'd ask you is "do you have a website?" Just having a website establishes your online presence, and you can find ways to use social media to draw people to your site. I'm not sure if you have enough information that it would be worthwhile to do a blog, it might be ideal to investigate doing some articles and sharing them through social media. The bookmarking sites such as Digg.com are considered part of the social media network, and this would be a way to spread the word about your expertise.
The other thing you should consider is using social media in a friendly way in order to expand your business. Perhaps there's not much interesting info on window washing you can post online. So instead use Twitter and Facebook to connect with people around other interests you have, and through those discussions you can promote that you do window washing. For example, I'm very interested in education because I have two small children, so I'm connected with a lot of education people on Twitter. But when I post about my web design stuff, these people promote me because we are friends in another domain. So I get promotion for my business through making friends in areas that interest me. It's all about networking -- the more people you know the more people you can tell about your business.
If you are going to go the route of social media, you should definitely come up with a scheme for implementation. It can be overwhelming, and in my experience people avoid social media for fear it will become a time vampire. Here's an article that talks about The Social Media Diet, an approach that focuses on spending 1/2 hour throughout the day, and focusing primarily on one outlet at a time: http://consulting2win.blogspot.com/2009/07/get-on-social-media-diet.html
Personally I believe like websites, not too far in the future consumers are going to expect companies to participate in social media. I know that Starbucks, Target, Best Buy and similar brands have a presence in Twitter and Facebook, and it seems to be working quite well for them. I myself have found some good local vendors by connecting with people on Twitter (so I'm a consumer who has become a customer of my Twitter connections). It's really about analyzing what the opportunities are, and how much time you are willing to invest, then deciding which outlets to pursue.
Hope that helps,
Bonnie