Beyond Facebook- The Challenge of Social Networking for Business
There’s no question that Facebook has been on the radar of almost every marketing department this year. Why not. They’re averaging 122 million unique visitors a month and are part of a big online shift. According to Nielsen’s 2009 survey visiting social sites is now the 4th most popular online activity (behind general searching, shopping, and knowledge/information sites). But does this translate to sales?
The answer isn’t as simple. Facebook themselves have admitted they’re struggling with their own revenue model and results of different ‘pay per click’ campaigns have been mixed. The addition of Face book ‘pages’ for businesses gave Companies something to build upon, but the most successful sites have been for simple consumer products; Coke has 3.6 million, Starbuck’s has 3.7 million. Organizations that sell to other businesses or sell a higher end consumer product have had little traction on Facebook.
What's most important for organizations is to concentrate on how the bigger social trend translates to their specific business. General "Professional Networking" sites like Linkedin and Plaxo grew 78% over last year and the top sites average 18 million unique visitors per month (based on Compete's July 2009 trends) There is also a rapidly growing number of specific professional sites that are leveraging the full Web 2.0 collaborative capabilities.
Unfortunately, many organizations are ignoring these sites or relegating their use to individuals within the organization. This is a major miss for several reasons:
1. These sites have some of the most qualified leads on the web. Most require a valid name, title and details about the organization, providing excellent segmentation opportunities. Pay per click ads are more expensive than traditional Google/Bing programs, but who cares – you want to target Mechanical Engineers at Companies over $5m, this is the most accurate way online.
2. Customers are using these tools to find out information on your organization. A recent review of several customer analytic reports showed 8-10% of their traffic was originating from professional networking sites. Customers were ‘looking up’ staff or details on the Company on these systems then continuing on to the main site
3. Professional Networking often has multiple special interest sites that directly relate to a Companies products or services. Your team can become ‘experts’ in a given group, or even manage their own.
Yeoman recommends several actions for every organization as it relates to social networking systems:
1. Understand your Customer Web Behaviors: Both as individuals and as corporate buyers. This will help establish a baseline of where you need to be.
2. Establish a basic position in the leading sites for your segment: The rise of professional and social networking is in its early stages. Organizations should establish a base presence in the best possible targets.
3. Centralize and control all updates: Multiple systems exist today that let you ‘post once’ and share to multiple sites. This is key to getting your message out into as many systems as possible.
4. Track results: Your system should track results from every system. This will ultimately dictate future investments as the system mature.
5. Create your own Social/Knowledge presence: If your product or service requires 'high touch' you should look consider building out your own system, separate from the main site. An independent, knowledge centric web site, whether stand alone or as part of a subgroup in a bigger system, is a great way to leverage your expertise and build a more direct relationship with potential clients. Splitting it out from the main page gives you the freedom to extend beyond the traditional messaging and engage with clients; think of them as virtual networking events and tradeshows that never end.
6. Put it in perspective: Social networking needs to be viewed within the context of your overall web strategy and the different channels available (Direct, Supply Chain, Reference, Knowledge Base, Auction, and Social systems)
Unfortunately, many organizations are ignoring these sites or relegating their use to individuals within the organization. This is a major miss for several reasons:
1. These sites have some of the most qualified leads on the web. Most require a valid name, title and details about the organization, providing excellent segmentation opportunities. Pay per click ads are more expensive than traditional Google/Bing programs, but who cares – you want to target Mechanical Engineers at Companies over $5m, this is the most accurate way online.
2. Customers are using these tools to find out information on your organization. A recent review of several customer analytic reports showed 8-10% of their traffic was originating from professional networking sites. Customers were ‘looking up’ staff or details on the Company on these systems then continuing on to the main site
3. Professional Networking often has multiple special interest sites that directly relate to a Companies products or services. Your team can become ‘experts’ in a given group, or even manage their own.
Yeoman recommends several actions for every organization as it relates to social networking systems:
1. Understand your Customer Web Behaviors: Both as individuals and as corporate buyers. This will help establish a baseline of where you need to be.
2. Establish a basic position in the leading sites for your segment: The rise of professional and social networking is in its early stages. Organizations should establish a base presence in the best possible targets.
3. Centralize and control all updates: Multiple systems exist today that let you ‘post once’ and share to multiple sites. This is key to getting your message out into as many systems as possible.
4. Track results: Your system should track results from every system. This will ultimately dictate future investments as the system mature.
5. Create your own Social/Knowledge presence: If your product or service requires 'high touch' you should look consider building out your own system, separate from the main site. An independent, knowledge centric web site, whether stand alone or as part of a subgroup in a bigger system, is a great way to leverage your expertise and build a more direct relationship with potential clients. Splitting it out from the main page gives you the freedom to extend beyond the traditional messaging and engage with clients; think of them as virtual networking events and tradeshows that never end.
6. Put it in perspective: Social networking needs to be viewed within the context of your overall web strategy and the different channels available (Direct, Supply Chain, Reference, Knowledge Base, Auction, and Social systems)
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