Joining The Social Media Conversation

14/07/2011

By Grayling Atomic

Social media has grown with such velocity that many businesses are afraid of embracing this medium, or don’t know where to start. The idea of running a social media platform can be daunting and for some, it may not be clear why they should even bother. We’ve put together a few tips that will hopefully help you take the first small steps and begin engaging with your stakeholders (customers, advocates, influencers) in the digital world.

Why bother?

Engaging through social media has many benefits. It is an opportunity to listen and find out what you’re customers, potential customers and...

...competitors are saying and doing. It can be a great tool for research (ask for feedback on a new product or suggestions for new features or services) and most importantly it is a way to engage with customers or prospects when they are not in your store, on your website, meeting with you face to face or on the phone. Social media enables you to stay top of mind for longer and can help to drive more business.

“Hello, how can I help?”

Customer service is a major issue for every business. Many companies are terrified of seeing anything negative written about their business, and this can lead some to avoid engaging with their customers publicly online in the first place. It is important to keep one thing in mind: no matter whether you are engaging on social media or not, conversations about your business will take place. It is always better to face the criticism and address any issues raised immediately than ignore them, or worse have no knowledge that a dissatisfied customer is spreading the word about their experience. A good example of how this is done well is Vodafone UK’s twitter account.

Where to start?

If a company wants to... continued on page two >

 

 

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