This week, we navigated through some of the “Do’s” and
“Don’ts” of effectively using social media for business through the lens of
author Dave Kerpen.
Much of what Kerpen discusses may appear to be common sense,
but his points regarding engagement, responsiveness, authenticity, honesty and
transparency are important ones to reinforce. One item that stood out to me in
particular was Kerpen’s assertion that, by the year 2015 or 2016, there would
be companies whose only “official website” would be a social media site (p.
175). Kerpen believes that social media platforms like Facebook provide all of
the tools that a traditional website would, with the advantage of exposure to a
much larger potential customer base.
While his points are valid, there is still tremendous value
to a company having a website – and to that end, seamless social media
integration into an existing website is imperative for a company’s success. Temin
(2014) adds that few organizations have successfully been able to build the totality of their brand presence on social media: websites act as the “hub,”
while social media platforms are the “spokes,” each with unique benefits and
audiences.
Team Two – what do
you think? If you were the owner of an organization, would you consider moving
away from the traditional website towards a social-only presence? I personally
think a balance is most appealing, making sure that social media is as tightly
and easily integrated into a website as possible for maximum exposure.
The fact of the matter is that businesses are utilizing
social media to their advantage – as of 2014, there were 40 million
active small business pages (Beese, 2015). During my time at my former job
with a PR agency, I was tasked to integrate social media into our clients’
marketing and PR programs. One client I worked with was Satin Ice, a worldwide
manufacturer of fondant. In 2015, Satin Ice hosted its inaugural
trade show, “The Americas Cake & Sugarcraft Fair,” and with the help of my
agency, developed a suite of social media accounts specific to the show. While
there are always lessons to be learned, I would consider Satin Ice’s foray into
social media for this trade show a “perfect example” of some of the concepts
Kerpen discusses, including:
- Social media maintenance is not just the responsibility of one department. As Kerpen stated, “Customers don’t care about your job title or what department you’re in. If they have problems, then they want solutions” (p. 175). With a little training from our agency, Satin Ice employees from across the business – from the CEO to the administrative assistant – became fluent in social media and were able to address feedback or questions in a timely manner.
- Respond
quickly to comments – both good and bad. At the conclusion of the
trade show, the show’s Facebook page was flooded with (mostly positive)
feedback from attendees. Satin Ice did a terrific job of acknowledging all of
these comments – especially important given it was the inaugural show and
feedback would be extremely important for future years.
Responses to negative feedback, such as the one below, were short but genuine and generally quelled any customer concerns (Facebook.com/CakeandSugarcraftFair). For instance, the commenter here “Liked” the show’s response.
- Responses to positive feedback, such as shown below, helped develop the show’s “social personality,” as described by Kerpen - showing that Satin Ice truly cares about connecting directly with the consumer and enticing them to come back for more.
And for those of you interested in all things cake and chocolate – the show will return next March!
References:
Beese, J. (2015, June 20). 17 powerful Facebook stats for marketers
and advertisers. Retrieved from http://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-stats-for-marketers/.
Kerpen, D. (2015). Likeable social media (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill Education.
Temin, D. (2014, January 9). Don’t kill off your website –
use it as the hub for your social media presence. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviatemin/2014/01/09/dont-kill-off-your-website-use-it-as-the-hub-for-your-social-media-presence/#63068ea314e8.
