What is Social Media and Why Should You Care?

Guest blogger: Simon Newing, Focus New Media

2009 has seen the proliferation of a whole range of words and phrases that may have left many business owners scratching their heads – and we now find ourselves needing to Twitter, to ‘poke’ and to ‘ LinkIn’.

All of these strange terms are generally thrown under the umbrella of “social media”, which can be thought of as the use of a series of (mainly) internet based applications to spread ‘word of mouth’. They allow the sharing of opinion, thought, comments and – this is where it can get interesting for businesses – recommendations, ratings and referrals. If you’re not using these applications to talk to your customers, it’s a fair bet they’re already using them to talk about you.

Here’s a quick overview of how some of the most fundamental elements of social media can be used by businesses to communicate with customers and colleagues:

• Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Facebook has over 300 million users and a business profile page can help some of them become “fans” of your organisation or your products. Nike currently has over 825,000 fans. Fans include links to your profile page as part of their profile, which can then spread to their friends, and their friends – and for very little effort you’ve hit upon an effective ‘viral’ method of spreading awareness of what you’re up to.
• Twitte r is a popular ‘micro-blogging’ service that essentially allows you to climb to the top of a big hill and yell things at those who have chosen to listen. Helped by celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross, Twitter usage has risen dramatically this year and we at Focus New Media have just over 310 ‘followers’. Twitter also includes useful built-in tools that help you identify when your organisation is being talked about and by whom.
• Founded in 2003, LinkedIn has become a leading site for online networking – acting much like a Facebook for businesses. The site now has over 53 million users in 200 countries and it can be used for connecting with past and present colleagues, posting projects and business opportunities, finding industry experts and according to some reports has become a crucial resource for HR departments.

That’s just a very quick overview of some of the core blocks that make up this new world of social media and they form an important part of your organisation’s digital strategy.

Simon Newing, MD Focus New Media 0117 9498008

simon.newing@focusnewmedia.com

This is an edited version of the full article which can be seen at our web site: http://www.focusnewmedia.com/blogs/social-media-and-why-you-should-care-about-it

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