How Businesses Use Social Networking Sites
From Baruchnewmedia
What's Social Networking Site (SNS) and Its Features?
Some places may use the term of social network site. According to the article of "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship," "social network sites are web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site" (Danah & Nicole).[1] SNSs have various features, particularly different SNS has different features. They vary from photo or video sharing, blogging to mobile interaction, but the basic is that they all consist of profiles, friends lists, comments and messaging.
How Do SNSs Emerge, Develop and Become Popular?
Let's borrow a timeline of launch dates of major SNSs from the article of "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship."
From the timeline, the first SNS, Six Degrees.com, was launched in 1997. It was developed based on the six degree separation theory that you can know a stranger through six persons at most by Stanley Milgram, the famous American social psychologist. Emerging things are always not known much or even accepted by people at the beginning, so was Six Degrees.com. Thus, we can see it was blank in 1998. From 1999 to 2002, 2 or 3 SNSs were launched every year. It still shows that not so many people embraced them at that time. However, starting from 2003, more and more SNSs emerged each year. LinkedIn and MySpace appeared at that time, too. All these reveal that more and more people accepted SNSs and they enjoyed the unique experience brought by SNSs. In 2004, Facebook was launched in Harvard dorm room as high school networks and in 2006 they extended business to add corporate networks. It defeated all other competitors and became the leader in the industry. Eventually, the reality and the virtual world are bridged by the SNS, where you can establish your own social circle, you can know more people through this circle, and therefore, you can realize interactive communication with friends when you play games, write diaries and so on. Developing SNS has become the trend of the times, and SNS has also become the darling of the Internet age in current Web 2.0 times.
Why Are SNSs So Popular?
The term of "networking" in a sense means SNSs are designed to be accessible widely, not limited by age, sex, nationality and geographic location. After Portal Era and Search Era, now the Internet industry has entered Social Networking Era. According to the article of "Americans Spend 23% of Internet Time on Social Networks," "Americans spend almost a quarter of their time online on social networking sites" (Sarah).[2] Many college students and young people spend a lot of time and energy on those games provided by social networking sites. With the development of internet technology and society progress, the previous one-way information communication cannot satisfy people's needs and it has been transformed in a more interactive way. Therefore, SNSs were developed under such demand.
So why are SNSs so popular?
1. SNSs can meet people's needs of the social interaction. They are contact-centric and users are linked together through a large network of individuals. The communication on SNSs among users seems both exciting and mysterious, but it is not completely anonymous. Instead, it's somehow dialogues based on users' real social roles. The blur and fusion of boundary between the reality and the virtual world make up the deficiency of people's social interaction in reality. It seems that the virtual world and the real life integrate closer on the SNSs than ever. In addition, the Internet also allows maroons to interact with those who have the same common views as them, and even encourages their self-development. Thus, they can realize resocialization and obtain new identities.
2. SNSs are the needs of personalized interpersonal communication. Users can establish various social circles on the SNSs, which include a friends circle, a classmates circle, a colleagues circle and more to meet the needs of personalized interpersonal communication. Many SNSs have features of diary and signature, which allows their friends to know their status. Users can also express their personal viewpoints when answering questions or questionnaires from their friends.
3. SNSs can satisfy people's psychological needs. The needs are not only thirst for knowledge and curiosity while obtaining information, but also emotional needs when interacting with friends, classmates and colleagues. Other web portals may meet the needs of the former, but SNSs can combine all these needs. Furthermore, many games on the SNSs, such as growing vegetable, making money and purchasing luxury cars and houses have brought psychological satisfaction and accomplishment to users. In reality, life has great pressure. Through the success from those interactive games with friends, users can release the pressure and receive fulfillment and satisfaction.
How Do Businesses Use SNSs to Drive Business?
SNSs now have gained popularity elsewhere and become mainstream. They not only help launch products and strengthen your existing brands, but also provide powerful networking opportunities that allow users to effectively target their audience. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg and more are very useful and will likely figure in your online plans, particularly they are free or at a very low cost. According to the article of "Social Network Ad Revenues to Reach $10 Billion Worldwide in 2013," analysts estimate that worldwide social network ad revenues will reach $5.54 billion this year with under half that amount, $2.74 billion, coming from the US market. The revenues will continue to grow till reach $10 billion in 2013 (Social Networking Watch).[3] No doubt, with such an optimistic outlook, it's definitely a smart choice to have your company's presence on these SNSs in order to reach more potential customers, business partners and employees. Companies shall take advantages of SNSs.
What Will Your Company's Web Presence Look Like on the SNSs?
Your social media and web strategy necessarily starts from your web presence. So what will your company's web presence look like on the social networking sites? It will be somewhat like an official company homepage. Business enterprises set up their own company homepages on the various social networking sites in order to attract those users who are interested with them and their products, and therefore allow them to follow as fans. Through the release of some company content, such as news, product information and activities, it enables business enterprises to interact with fans. Brand fans can also keep an eye on the latest information by becoming the fans of company homepages over social networking sites. In addition, they can also interact with each other. In the company or brand homepage service, Facebook is the unquestioned leader among social networking service providers. Business enterprises from various industries including Coca Cola, Starbucks, Disney, BMW, etc. all create their own company homepages on Facebook. According to Socialbakers, Coca Cola has more than 36 million fans now; Walmart has over 10 million; BMW has more than 6.8 million and Google has more than 4.5 million (Socialbakers).[4]
What Can/Shall Companies Do to Drive Business Using Their Web Presence on SNSs?
Companies can do almost everything with their web presence on social networking sites. Internally, they can keep contact with their employees and initiate networking collaboration for better internal management; Externally, they can form a good interaction with fans to promote business. Here are a few basic examples:
1. Press release and spread of information
On the business web presence, a company can share the latest news and product information, as well as organize various activities. This is one of the most basic functions of a company homepage. By becoming a follower of the homepage, a user can stay up on the latest issues and trends of the company and its business.
2. Listening to user voice, finding and solving the problems on time
Social networking sites are designed for interactive communication. Thus it enables users to leave messages of complaint on your company homepage once they are not satisfied. If the problem cannot be solved, users may spread it widely. However, if the company is able to answer the complaint on time, some problems can be dissolved to avoid intensification. The one-on-one reply not only brings benefits to other persons who have the same complaint, but also makes users feel that they are seriously taken care.
3. Getting close to users, talking with them and providing more personalized service
According to the article of "Marketing to the social web: how digital customer communities build your business," in current new marketing reality created by social networking, "the brand is based on the dialogue you have with your customers and prospects - the stronger the dialogue, the stronger the brand; the weaker the dialogue, the weaker the brand" (Weber 15).[5] Companies now gauge brand equity by dynamic measure such as customer word-of-mouth. Answering questions promptly not only shows companies can give customers information quickly, but also shows that they are available to help. It helps earn trust, build credibility and nurture relationships with your customers.
4. E-business functions
For business enterprises, the marketing purpose is no doubt to increase sales. Some SNSs even have a feature to allow companies to open their online shops. Currently, there have been many retailers taking this advantage on Facebook to sell products to their fans directly.
5. Developing customer relations and extending social circle
Social networking sites are not only tools of communication, but also tools of data analysis. If your potential clients also use Facebook, Twitter and blogs to communicate with their clients, you may find what your potential clients and their clients are thinking and caring about from their dialogues. Your clients may not care much about you, but they will definitely care about their clients. The more you know the users of your clients, the more you have confidence to convince your clients. Also, the professional social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Networking for Professionals can help build and extend your social circle. Who would have thought that a friend you have made by chance may become a decision maker or an influencer to one of your agreements.
6. Employee recruitment
Companies also use social networking sites to screen and hire employees. No matter how you hate me-too attitude, you need to follow this social recruitment trend, as it will bring you many benefits, such as faster recruitment process, the power of buzz and cost effective. According to the news article of "More Employers Use Social Networks to Check Out Applicants," 45% of employers questioned are using social networks on the SNSs to screen job candidates (Jenna).[6] By paying $20 US dollars, you can use advanced features of LinkedIn, for example, to search who has ever worked for your competitors.
Why Shall Companies Have Their Own Business Web Presence on SNSs? (Official Company Website VS. Web on SNSs)
Other than official company websites in the internet, why shall companies have their own business web presence on SNSs?
10 years ago, perhaps many companies may ask such a same question, "shall we set up a company website?" As a matter of fact, from small firms to top 500 global corporations, business enterprises all have their own company websites. Using company websites to advertise themselves and their business are the most basic tool for modern enterprises. But is it enough just having an official company website? Before answering this question, let's take a look at a group of data. Based on the Facebook page traffic vs. company website traffic analysis conducted by Compete for February 2011, Apples' iTunes Facebook page had 1.26 times as many unique visitors as the iTunes site, and BMWUSA Facebook page had about 0.65 times as many unique visitors as BMWUSA site (Compete).[7] Apparently, the data shows that most of the users nowadays all prefer to visit a company's homepage on the SNSs. Companies shall have to set up their own webs there in order to meet this demand. The reality also tells that if your customers do not show on the social webs, they must be on the way to the webs. According to statistics on the Facebook official website, Facebook has more than 800 million active users now and more than 50% of them log on to Facebook in any given day (Facebook).[8] Digitalbuzz also announced on January 18, 2011 that there were over 700 billion minutes a month spending on Facebook, and in just 20 minutes on Facebook over 1 million links were shared, 2 million friend requests were accepted and almost 3 million messages were sent (Digitalbuzz).[9] Most of consumers are all using SNSs now. If companies still keep the original thinking to let consumers visit their official company websites, they will definitely lose the game. From some examples on Facebook, companies like P&G, Best Buy and Levi's now all sell products directly to their users through shops feature on their social networking webs.
The official company websites are information islands, while webs on the SNSs are interactive dialogue platforms. Take example, consider that you want to buy a car. Will you just visit the official company website of the car manufacturer or dealer? Of the course, the answer is no. Except beautiful pictures, colorful advertising and basic product information, you won't find what you want there. Instead, if you go to their webs on the SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter, the situation will be totally different. You will be in a dynamic environment, where you can not only take a look at those more vivid and interesting content, but also meet with other users. Those users may be the people like you who come to search and query; may be the people who have purchased the cars and come to share their experience. You may join the dialogues. You can also find the company in the dialogues too, because the company wants to know whether users have any questions. Some people may say that both official company website and web on the SNS are able to bring useful news and product information to users. However, from the standpoint of user getting information, once users become fans of some company web on the SNS, they can obtain the update of information immediately. This is something that the official company website cannot do. Although some social elements have been more or less added to the official company website, such communication of information is still one-way. Users can seldom participate to make comments, and even cannot share information and discuss with other users as they can normally do on the SNSs.
The original design of the official company website cannot be changed a lot and it is pretty much set by the time when it's created, while the web on the SNS has easy expansibility and customization. The web on the SNS is allowed to add various applications, such as voting, leaving a message and photo or video-sharing. Furthermore, currently SNSs are open to all third party developers. That means companies can add many applications to their webs, from page display, dialogues with users, marketing activities to fans management. These cannot be done on the official company website, and even if the official company website wants to have a try, the input energy and material will be huge.
Some Suggestions to Companies About Their Using Business Webs on the SNSs
While SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter have become so popular, companies all feel that using SNSs is a key way to promote business. Likewise, having a web presence on the SNSs is also an important part of social media strategy of the companies. Therefore, without a fully developed plan for your social networking activity, you could end up meandering throughout the sites and wasting a lot of time. And, here are some suggestions to companies about their using business webs on the SNSs:
1. Listening to user voice and selecting appropriate platforms for your company
As described in the news article of "How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business," you shall figure out what your needs are, consider the primary goal of your social networking strategy, know your target product audience and narrow your focus (J.J.).[10] Therefore, you shall search your company online to see what people and your competitors are talking about your company. You shall know whether users on different SNSs are your target audience. You shall also know features of different SNSs. And after that, you may choose appropriate platforms for your business. It's undesirable to blindly create your web without investigation.
2. Establishing a positive company image and an attractive community
Your web presence on the SNSs is one branch of your company, and therefore the image is particularly important. That means you'll have to consider your web display, background patterns, web layout and so on after you register an account. Since SNS is a dynamic environment that focuses on interactive communication, you may add personalized elements to make it different from your official company website. You may also create different image in the different SNS. According to the article of "Marketing to the social web: how digital customer communities build your business," the web is not just about advertising, it's about links to other things such as experience, so you shall create an attractive environment and community to invite people to come, to share stories and to download some content (Weber 201). You need to show that you’re an important community source for authentic information, not just marketing hype.
3. Driving traffic to online properties
Start using SNSs to drive traffic to your online properties, such as the official website, company blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn by providing obvious links. The more traffic your online properties have, the more opportunities you will get to promote your business, because it reveals that how much consumers love your company and products and therefore may purchase your products.
4. Not caring much about the quantity of fans, but dialogues with them
Many companies think a lot of fans quantity when they implement marketing strategy on the SNSs. However, the quality, that is the interaction with users is much more important. Companies all hope to join the dialogues with users and to maintain a long-term relationship with them. Hence, they shall add more dimensions to the communication, such as adding search, query, comments and personal reviews of products, services and experiences. They shall reply the user messages on time and give assistance to users. Through dialogues, they will know users' needs, so that they can adjust corresponding social media strategy or marketing strategy.
5. Analyzing data, managing client and establishing consumer community
The ultimate purpose for companies to use SNSs is to transform fans into purchasing power. To achieve such "transformation," it requires companies to interact with users sincerely and solve user problems promptly in order to manage customer relationship. In this respect, Sony set a good example to promote its PSPs. Sony offered a monthly Q&A competition with chances to win PSPs and travel guides. It encouraged visitors to contribute their own travel stories on its SNS and Sony posted the best each month. Companies shall also scientifically analyze data, particularly the data provided by SNSs and try e-business functions which is also provided by SNSs to promote business.
External Links: Top 5 Most Popular SNSs
Here are top 5 most popular SNSs ranked by a combination of constantly updated traffic statistics (eBizMBA)[11]:
Facebook: Is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pictures. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this SNS.
Twitter: Is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you to answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages with 140 characters in length, called "tweets," to your friends or "followers." Through a service named Twitterscan, users can search and analyze "tweets" by inputting a company name.
LinkedIn: Is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
MySpace: Is targeted toward youth and teens. Allows users to tinker with music, themes, and HTML code.
Ning: Is a SNS where you can design free social networks that they can be shared with anyone. You can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the web.
References
- ↑ Danah, M. Boyd and Nicole, B. Ellison. "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2007. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ Sarah, Kessler. "Americans Spend 23% of Internet Time on Social Networks." Social Networking Watch. Social Networking Watch, 13 September 2011. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ "Social Network Ad Revenues to Reach $10 Billion Worldwide in 2013." Social Networking Watch. Social Networking Watch, 5 October 2011. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ "Facebook Brands Statistics." Socialbakers. Socialbakers, 30 November 2011. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ Weber, Larry. Marketing to the social web: how digital customer communities build your business. New Jersey: Hoboken, 2007. books.google.com. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ Jenna, Wortham. "More Employers Use Social Networks to Check Out Applicants." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 August 2009. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ "Facebook: More Than Just Likes." Compete. Compete, February 2011. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ "Statistics." Facebook. Facebook, 30 November 2011. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ "Facebook Statistics, Stats & Facts For 2011." Digitalbuzzblog. Digitalbuzzblog, 18 January 2011. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ J.J., McCorvey. "How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business." Inc. Inc, 25 January 2010. Web. 30 November 2011.
- ↑ "Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites | December 2011." eBizMBA. eBizMBA, 1 December 2011. Web. 1 December 2011.
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