Social Media Platforms

Social Media: Love it or Hate it?

Posted on in Small Business Tips, SME Marketing, Social Media

This recent tweet from Sejual Shah, EFT expert, prompted my latest blog post:

“You know you’ve left mainstream media behind when you first hear Liz Taylor has passed away through Twitter”  You can find out more about Sejual via twitter @EFTSejual.

Love it or hate it, social media is firmly ensconced in our lives and no longer just a way of keeping up with your friends’ photographs, but as a source of news, PR, business promotion, customer service management, research… to name but a few!

If you are a business and not yet using at least one of the social media platforms to promote your business, then you are certainly missing out on an opportunity.  And if you are confused over which one to choose then, in brief, LinkedIn is very corporate, Facebook very retail and Twitter pretty much bridges the gap between the two! 

Listen and Learn

Your consumers will be talking about you regardless and hiding is no longer feasible; surely its better to know what your critics are saying about you and actively respond and manage any issues effectively than lose customers by poor customer service or, worse, because you weren’t even aware of their dissatisfaction with your products or services in the first place?!  Social Media gives you an opportunity to listen, respond and develop your business approach in a much more targeted and customer-friendly way.  On the flip-side if someone is saying something nice about you, make the most of it and make sure everyone knows!

Ivor Tossell, a columnist for The Globe and Mail posted a blog last week about the speed with which some corporates are now responding to a single mention on Twitter.  At first glance this may seem slightly extreme, but actually ably demonstrates the point above.  Southwest Airlines were able to quickly identify a reference to their company and could, had they chosen to, respond appropriately allaying any concerns or fears over their service.

Social Media never Zzz…

On Thursday evening I picked up an #FF on Twitter (Follow Friday for the unaware) from Phil, who runs a Bed and Breakfast in Normandy, France.  When I responded to Phil with my thanks querying the time difference, he replied that he wasn’t around on the Friday and didn’t realise that anyone would read his post so late in the day (it was actually only around 7pm).  Rest assured Phil, with smart phone technology, your potential customers will be alive and kicking 24/7.   By the way, you can also find Phil’s beautiful-looking B&B on Facebook!

If you have any comments to make on this post, then I would love to hear from you.

Kind regards, Alison