Social Networking for Business Growth

33% of all internet users share opinions on-line every week.

It wasn't that long ago that the internet was a display cabinet for static websites that did very little apart from look pretty (and many failed at that!).

Now, there are millions of consumers talking about topics that affect them, products they like and dislike and service (good or bad) that they have experienced. The internet is an open forum, a no-holds-barred soap box where views can be aired with approbation.

"Social Media is everywhere. Quite literally...Covering a vast swathe of online activity from blogs to social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace, to the micro-blogging activity on Twitter, social media is growing at an astonishing rate." Morag Cuddeford-Jones, Marketing Week.

So, how can businesses dip their toes into this maelstrom of consumer chat?

Large brands have discovered the power of social media as a way of identifying consumer trends and changes in behaviour. Many of you will have heard the story of Cadbury Wispa. It disappeared from store shelves in 2003, but Cadbury subsequently learnt that there was a growing campaign on Facebook calling for the bar's return. By 2007, there were 93 "Bring Back Wispa" groups with around 14,000 members, all fans of the confection, and the bar was reinstated.

Cadbury responded: "We had noticed the web interest for some time. It reveals a consumer passion which swayed our opinion about relaunching Wispa." Tony Bilsborough, Cadbury Spokesman.

There are some key words in the above statement - "web interest", "consumer passion" and "swayed our opinion".

Cadbury built a relationship with those people discussing Wispa on Facebook; they listened to the consumer and reacted.

This is exactly how every business can benefit from Social Media. Use it to build relationships. Start by simply tapping into these vast networks, and sharing your opinions and ideas, providing useful information or helpful tips and build a fan base; above all, listen to what consumers are discussing.

I will conclude with some advice from Dan Cobley, Google Marketing Director:

"History tells us that economic slowdowns are when winners get ahead. The performance gap between the most successful companies and their competitors becomes greater than during a growth period. The winners continue investing in growth and focus on profitable products and customers, while carefully managing costs.

The slowdown is likely to fuel further adoption of digital technologies and greater use of the web. By understanding today's consumer, companies can take advantage of digital technology and media to be more flexible, effective and targeted in growing their business during the slowdown."

Marketing Week

We have written a paper entitled "Social Media - An Introduction to Facebook and Twitter for Business" and this can be found at http://www.argentrammedia.com/downloads.html, along with several other articles on Internet Marketing and Website Design. If you find these articles useful, please feel free to post a comment on this blog page; we'd be delighted to hear from you.