Social Media value for businesses

Many social media users across the globe perceive social media as a society without barriers, restrictions or discrimination. In most cases customers find expression on social media because they are not confined to formality and protocol in how they express themselves. This communication preference has grown over the years resulting in the high demand for social media platforms. It is against this understanding that there has been a consistent increase in social media tools and users over the past years.

The increase of social media users, presents new opportunities for business and organisations. Therefore, companies have to strategically rethink their traditional ways of reaching and engaging their customers in order to maintain relevance. According to the research of Barnes and Mattson conducted in 2009, 43 per cent of the fastest growing private companies in the United States judged social media to be “very important” for business, while 91 per cent used at least one social media tool. These results reaffirms the need for a transition on how companies interact with their customers.  

Social media has redefined its self-such that it’s no longer about users chatting amongst themselves as noted in my previous blog titled “The Evolution of Social Media. Companies that are forward looking have realised this reality and they are positioning themselves to exploit this social opportunity by investing aggressively in the technology and structures support the platform.  Lately, many companies use social media for the following benefits amongst others:

•       To increase brand recognition through the pool of users that gets accessed on the platforms, which does not have geographical restrictions.

•       To increase sales through the e-commerce functionality incorporated in the tools.

•       To immediately connect with prospective customers, vendors or partners.

•       To explore new advertising channels as opposed to the traditional  bill boards, banners and brochures which are generally considered not to be environmentally friendly.

•       To monitor for the comments and concerns expressed by customers about the company.

•       To research prospective employees i.e. LinkedIn thereby saving on both agent and HR costs.

According to Kim Harrison 78% of consumers trust each other more than they trust advertising i.e. radio, bill boards, newspaper etc. Therefore, it is essential for companies to have social media presence to engage and address all client issues timely because their dissatisfaction can result in a reputational or financial loss to the company which is usually difficult to reverse.