Part Two of Share This looks at how businesses can get started with social media, which many companies are starting to do. The author(s) gives a list of six things to think about when starting out in social media:
1. Select your squad
2. Choose a goal
3. Start Listening
4. Think about character and content
5. Integrate your outpost
6. Measure what you treasure
All six "instructions" are good ideas for any part of business that you go into, but when thinking of getting into social media, I think that businesses really need to understand these to know what they are getting into. If you look at the way businesses are set up each department is set up to deal with different issues or topics which can come in handy with social media because not one department can always respond to the target audience or competitors in the way it may need to be taken care of and that's where listening becomes important. Businesses also need to think about what Tom Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, says in the chapter, "people relate to people, not companies." Treat your customers like people and not just a way to get money. Once you work all that out you also need to choose your platform. What are your audiences using the most. Lastly, you need to evaluate how this whole social media idea is working out. Is it really producing the ROI's that you were expecting?
For awhile after reading this I thought about the businesses in Ada and even a few of the things we have on campus that may or may not use these principles when they started their social media pages. One that came to mind is Jalepeño's because they currently have a promotion going on where if you buy a t-shirt and go on to their Facebook page and follow them, customers are given the opportunity to wear their t-shirts on posted days for a discount when they come in. I feel like this follows the six "instructions" above. They have students working there and a lot of us go there often, so somewhere along the lines they probably heard about our money struggles and how much we all like to eat. So they decided to use that to benefit them.
And there's my nerd moment of the week.
-Kaila
These steps are definitely important for any company to follow. The one that seems to cause perhaps the most trouble is listening, as many companies can end up alienating customers by not responding well to their needs or by making unwanted changes. For instance, YouTube has taken significant criticism for making changes to its format that are widely unpopular.
ReplyDeleteNoah, I agree that listening is important and companies need to take that largely into consideration to keep customers. Facebook should follow YouTube's example and look at all the complaints I see on my Facebook and Twitter.
DeleteEllen, when I saw that idea I really thought it was a good way to get business. I also think that more businesses in Ada should look more into deals to bring us in. I mean McDonald's gives us a small discount when we show our ID's and also started serving some breakfast items at midnight. The breakfast idea is really popular after parties on the weekend because most of us won't make it to MAC the next morning or just to lazy to make our own brunch.
I really liked your example of Jalapenos. I think that small businesses have the most freedom with creativity when it comes to social media marketing. Being close to a college campus, the t-shirt idea is a great way to get people in classes or walking on campus talking about Jalapenos. Having this idea can also lead people to the Facebook page where they can learn about the discount. Small businesses are the ones that need social media the most because of the amount of people it can reach outside of their normal customers and reach a farther audience.
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