Moving Social Media Beyond Facebook

Social media are without a doubt the biggest revolution to hit the digital landscape since the invention of the MP3.  Like the MP3, social media should be understood as tools; a means for   achieving some desired goal.  As new platforms are developed and more and more applications are downloaded, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the average user to identify what aspects of social media are actually relevant to their lives.   That’s the world we live in today; our growing electronic village. 

From a business perspective, most of us use social media in three main ways.  
First, we use them to promote our company through establishing and maintaining an online presence.  A good way to get some perspective is by looking up your company name on Google.  What are the first ten items to appear?  Are they items that work positively in your favour?  Notice how often comments relating to your brand appear in online news articles, blogs and discussion forums.  If you’re not part of that media space than already you’re losing an uphill battle. 

Second, we use social media tools to monitor for industry trends and breaking news before it makes major headlines.  This is not only essential to crisis management but also for research.  Maybe there’s a YouTube video in which a customer complains about how your new Product X is harmful if used in such-and-such way.  Maybe there’s a community of bloggers that are dedicated to investigating your small niche business and have found an innovative new concept that is poised to revolutionize the industry.  Wouldn’t it be nice to know about this stuff before it makes headlines?   

Lastly—and perhaps most importantly—we use social media as a way to engage the public within a forum that allows for three-way communication.  Maybe you have something to tell the public.  Maybe they want to talk about something different.  Maybe, just maybe, users want to talk to each other about you.  By facilitating that dialogue, you can influence the messages that ultimately rise to the surface while earning the trust of your target audience.  You also have the capacity to present a less formal side of your business than what is on your corporate website.  Pampers, Pedigree, and Levis are but a few examples of companies who have used social media in truly innovative ways to support their brand culture and not necessarily their product line.  

It’s a crowded world out there, and it’s no longer enough to simple throw up a Facebook page and say you’re a part of the social media conversation.