Social Networking – Value or Noise
It is on everyone’s to do list. It’s the subject of conferences, blog posts and water cooler conversation. Social Media. But is social media and social networking of value to a small to mid-sized technology company or is it just more noise, noise, noise?
To mind communicator’s mind, social media is yet another communication channel for a company to leverage and exploit. The true power of social media is the rapidness in which word spreads, and its direct connection to the grapevine effect. For those of you interested in reading more about the incredible power of word of mouth marketing, I’d recommend Seth Godin’s book Tribes.
So what is a small to mid-sized technology company to do? Is it time to get blogging? To tweet or not to tweet? The rest of this article is devoted to sharing some of the ins and outs I’ve learned in working personally with social media tools, and encapsulates some of the advice I offer my clients on the topic.
1. Match your medium to your message
When I talk to my clients about marketing, I explain that marketing is like a quiver of arrows, and depending on the game you are hunting, you use the weapon most suited to the circumstance. Think of the various social media as a set of arrows – and align your choices to your business, and your target customer. There is data available to you that will help you understand the demographics surrounding various social media to best align your social media strategy to your business. Aiming your iPhone application at tween and teen girls? Think about MySpace. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook? Women over 55 years of age. Targeting CIOs in financial services? Then I’d look at LinkedIn, with 45% of its users professionals over the age of 45.
2. LinkedIn can be a powerful direct sales and marketing tool
While on the topic of LinkedIn, let’s explore some of the ways you can use this tool to advance your marketing mission. First, leverage the platform’s search capabilities to target titles in specific target segments. Then use your three degrees of separation, or upgrade to the platform’s InMail service to reach your target buyer with a highly precise and well researched message. I was awestruck by the success of one of my technology clients. They have used LinkedIn very successfully to specifically target prospective target titles, and have secured massive enterprise deals as a result. They have a really powerful product, so that certainly has helped too.
3. Think in terms of themes and thought leadership
Approach Twitter in the context of a theme. Is there a particular philosophy you wish to impart? A topic where you are equipped to educate? If approached in a thematic way, Twitter can become a focal point for thought leadership for your company and an important and valued source for knowledge for your prospects. Also, remember that Twitter has a reciprocal nature to the way it works. I always encourage my clients to consider it a key tool in their PR efforts. Follow magazines and editors that cover your industry and your product, and use it as yet another opportunity to relationship build with journalists.
4. Don’t just talk. Listen.
Social media, like all communication medium is two-way. So when embarking on a social media strategy, remember to listen just as much, or more than you talk. Realize that your customers, your investors, editors and competitors will be using these same tools to talk about you, talk with you. Social media tools become a vital listening post and source of “in the moment” information on your products and your company.
5. Social media participation = search engine optimization
Your own blog, blog rolls, tweets, press releases issued over reputable newswires and other social media participation creates a flow of information and becomes the source for rich and reciprocal links, and page content which in turn elevates your site naturally in search engine rankings.
6. In social media, you can’t just date. You need to commit.
Building and maintaining a social media, social networking model is time consuming and requires commitment. Information must be useful, on point, value added, and be delivered with a frequency that keeps followers interested and coming back for more. So when adopting your social media practice, select carefully and commit fully. Better to do a couple of things really well than spread yourself too thin and fail due to an inability to maintain.
