Marketing social care
The Personalisation agenda means a major shift in the way social care providers
approach service development and delivery.
Block contracts will become one of only several ways of generating business as
consumers decide who will provide the care for themselves and their family.
Social care providers need to start thinking about how they will generate business
in a changing environment. Whilst providers may well have a reputation, most have
no recognisable brand and could see a loss in business if they don’t start
developing a marketing strategy.
Old world
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All work commissioned by the local authority / PCT. Providers tender for
contracts and either win all or nothing
One size fits all service
Providers may have a reputation but there are very few recognisable
brands - there was no need
Jargonistic ways of communication
Only need to manage relationships with a handful of commissioners
Budget and provider allocated to end user by the commissioner
Getting information about the pros and cons of providers was difficult as
there was no choice
Consumers had low expectations and were grateful to get any support
they could
No real need for marketing specialists, activity or resources
New world
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Individuals are increasingly deciding on which providers they will use
Personalised service based on the individual's needs
Providers will need to start building a brand and talk to individuals in a
consumer-friendly manner if they are to attract business directly
Providers need to market their services to consumers directly and via
third parties (brokers & government)
The consumer decides how to spend his allocated budget (often topped
up or paid for entirely by himself) after talking to friends, searching the
internet and getting advice from third party agencies
The internet is a rich source of information and makes it easy to access
other users, CQC ratings etc and to provide feedback on the quality of
service. "Bad" providers will find it more difficult to hide.
Consumers are much more savvy, they demand and expect quality,
choice and value for money.
Marketing will become as important for social care providers as it is for
other service providers
The key to maintaining and growing market share in the new world of
Personalisation is to ensure all user groups, potential user groups and third party
influencers are aware of the services your organisation offers and how they
compare favourably to other providers. This means that whether the decision
needs to be made quickly or is considered over a long period of time, your
organisation is always considered.
Assuming most people don't know your organisation and what you offer, the first
objective should be to ensure that the best possible information about your
organisation is available regardless of whether consumers search on Google or
care services websites, or whether they discuss the options with third parties or
peer groups.
You then need to make sure you handle the enquiry well, maximise your
conversion rates, continue to retain your customer and get him to recommend you
to others.
Building a brand and marketing social care
Define your service offering
Before you start marketing you will need to define what services your social care
organisation offers at what sites and to which audiences.
You then need to answer the “Why would I choose your organisation” question. To
do this you need to provide as much evidence as possible. It’s no longer good
enough to simply say that you are a high quality provider of social care.
Ideally you’ll have quantifiable outcomes data and customer satisfaction ratings
and testimonials. End users will want to compare social care providers and look at
how this relates to your costs. If you have this information it will stand you in good
stead, and if you don’t, in the new world of Personalisation, you’ll be compared to
other social care providers who do.
For individuals, deciding which provider to go with it is likely to involve getting
reassurance from a number of sources. If good information about your services is
widely available to all parties, end users can be reassured they are making the
right choice.
Marketing your organisation
Social care organisations will need a number of different marketing strategies and
tactics and use a range of channels. You’ll need separate marketing strategies for
communicating with commissioners, funders and end users and you'll want to be
able to test different marketing ideas and track return on investment to ensure you
don't waste money.
You’ll need to ensure you:
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have a website that talks directly to end users as well as third party
commissioners and funders
have marketing literature to promote your services. If you offer a range of
services over a range of sites and want to use your literature to
communicate to a variety of audiences, the way you put your marketing
literature together and the suppliers you use will have a significant impact
on the cost to your organisation and the effectiveness of your marketing
make life as easy as possible for commissioners so that they pass on
information and refer end users directly to your social care organisation.
This is likely to become a competitive area and providers with an effective
marketing strategy which influences third parties to direct individuals to
them are likely to do best in the future
to ensure your organisation is on the list when potential customers are
searching for the type of care service you offer in an area where you
operate
to ensure that all relevant third party agencies have (and importantly use)
marketing information about the services you offer. You'll need to find a
way of communicating different messages to the third party and the end
user
to be visible on the web wherever your potential customers are looking for
information
to monitor the effectiveness of your website and whether enough visitors
are turning into enquiries
to make sure your internal communications are up to speed and that all
your staff are aware of what you are doing
Enquiry handling and management of data
When you receive enquiries from individuals via your website (or any other
channel) you’ll need to make sure the enquiry is answered promptly and is dealt
with in the right way by the right person.
You will need to have a marketing database to store relevant information about
your customers, enquirers and prospects and will need a marketing
communications strategy to maximise conversion rates from enquiry to customer.
You’ll need to identify which data needs to be captured and ensure your call
handler captures this data into your marketing database. You will then be in a
position to communicate specific messages to your different customer groups in a
timely and cost-effective fashion.
Building ongoing relationships will all stakeholders
Regular, targeted, relevant marketing communications to the right people at the
right time are what will keep your organisation’s name in people’s minds.
In order to do this your marketing database will need to capture a range of
information which may include geography, age, disabilities, third party details,
appropriate services, stage in decision-making process.
Following this a series of communications can begin. Different newsletters can be
despatched to different segments of the database – ensuring all articles are
relevant. The database can also be used to trigger highly targeted marketing
messages to individuals eg a parent who’s child has complex needs could receive
information about residential services in the area a set period before he / she
would be eligible to for a place.
Marketing on a tight budget
Introduction
It is a common misconception that businesses need to spend large amounts of
money on marketing to gain significant benefits. Whether you are a start-up
business on a tight budget, or an established business considering reducing your
marketing spend, there are a number of cost-effective solutions open to you.
Cutting costs may seem like the obvious answer, but even a modest marketing
investment can deliver both short-term and long-term benefits to a business.
This guide explains how to review and evaluate your current marketing spend. In
particular it outlines what to consider when setting your objectives and how to
make them work for your business.
This guide also explores customer relations and how to maintain your regular
customer base and inspire other potential customers to your business, as well as
outlining a number of low-cost, high-value strategies for public relations on a
budget.
Review and evaluate your current marketing spend
To gain maximum benefit from your marketing budget, it's important to review and
monitor it regularly. Any time and money you spend on marketing can be seen as
an investment into your business - especially if you are a small business with a
limited budget. There are some key factors to consider in reviewing and evaluating
your marketing budget. For example, you should:
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Review last year's figures - this can give you an insight into your market and
customer spending trends throughout the year. Pay particular attention to
the peaks and troughs as well as what marketing strategies you had in
place at the time. Did a peak in sales represent a successful marketing
campaign?
Consider changes in the market - when assessing your budget for the year,
consider any changes that may have happened in your industry. Have there
been any fundamental changes in innovation, technology or conditions
(such as a recession or growth spurt) that will affect your products or
services that you use? You should also look into any new trends that may
have evolved over the year and assess whether these will affect your
marketing efforts.
Use technology to reach and widen your customer base - e-marketing can
be a powerful tool for marketing your business and widening your customer
base. You should review how you use technology to see if you are making
full use of the possible benefits. You can make substantial savings by
moving to electronic communications, such as direct marketing and social
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networking sites that reach your target consumers, markets and
businesses.
Set your objectives - this keeps your business focused on what you want to
achieve from your marketing budget and can be a roadmap when things go
astray. You should try to set objectives that are specific, measureable,
attainable, realistic and time specific.
For example, you could set objectives to:
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increase your customer base
develop your brand identity
research your customers, market or competitors
use different marketing channels and mixes to reach your customers
By gaining insight into your industry and market and developing specific objectives,
you can help your business grow and stay on track throughout the year.
How to attract, win and keep your customers
To maximise your marketing spend, you need to focus your marketing efforts on
satisfying your current customers, encouraging past customers and inspiring new
customers to your business.
Getting more from your customer base
Your regular customer base is critical to your business' survival and growth. It
generally costs a business more to attract new customers than to look after the
ones you have. It's important to identify your unique selling point (USP) - what's
new and unique about your product or service? Knowing your USP can make you
stand out from the crowd and retain and attract new customers. To retain your
regular customers you need to seize chances to build and maintain your
relationship with them on each interaction. Whether by email, newsletter, word of
mouth or your service, you should try to cement your customers' relationships with
your business.
There are many ways to do this when on a tight budget. Think about how you
communicate - for example, you should:
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talk to your customers and focus on their needs and wants
be specific, honest and clear about what you can offer
keep in touch - send email updates or a newsletter
get to know your competitors and what they are offering
Finding new customers
You should always be thinking about how to attract new customers. For example,
you could:
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offer free trials or tasters and advice on services
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let potential new customers know who you are and what you offer
offer options and solutions to increase convenience
position yourself as a leader next to your competition - give a reason for
customers to buy from you
aim to price your products or services according to their quality - avoid
underpricing them.
Day-to-day interactions can improve your understanding of, and help you respond
to, your customers' needs and wants. This information can strengthen your
products or services, your customer relationships and your return on investment as
a result.
Public relations on a budget
You don't need to blow your budget to keep your business in the public eye. Even
a cash-strapped business can use public relations (PR) effectively and reap the
benefits.
When setting out to promote your business, it is important to be clear about what
you are aiming to achieve - for example, increased sales, increased visits to your
website or more awareness of your service.
Some of the more cost-effective ways to promote your business can be to:
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make your business stand out - eg by offering a unique product or service
or by offering savings
let people know if your business wins an award or contract
let people know if you have had good publicity
write a press release
specialise - you will be more attractive to customers if you are an expert in
what you do
write an article in your local newspaper/magazine
lead a trend or solve a problem that you have spotted
advertise something interesting about your staff or the direction in which you
are heading with your business
With a little more money in your PR budget, you could try these PR methods:
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relaunch your website or service
offer an expert opinion on a current trend
survey your customers, get to know their needs and future wants
get involved in your industry, be the expert and offer advice
partnerships - join forces with other businesses that are complementary to
your business
With a little time and creativity, you can create effective PR campaigns quickly and
cheaply.
Create your marketing strategy
Introduction
Developing a marketing strategy is vital for any business. Without one, your efforts
to attract customers are likely to be haphazard and inefficient. The focus of your
strategy should be to make sure that your services meet customer needs and that
you develop long-term and profitable relationships with those customers. To
achieve this, you will need to create a flexible strategy that can respond to changes
in customer perceptions and demand. It may also help you identify whole new
markets that you can successfully target.
The purpose of your marketing strategy should be to identify and then
communicate the benefits of your business offering to your target market.
Once you have created and implemented your strategy, monitor its effectiveness
and make any adjustments required to maintain its success.
This guide helps you identify which customers to focus on and your key objectives
in reaching them. It explains what to include in your marketing strategy and how it
can be used as the basis for effective action.
Key elements of a successful marketing strategy
One of the key elements of a successful marketing strategy is the acknowledgment
that your existing and potential customers will fall into particular groups or
segments, characterised by their 'needs'. Identifying these groups and their needs
through market research, and then addressing those needs more successfully than
your competitors, should be the focus of your strategy. See our guide on market
research and market reports.
You can then create a marketing strategy that makes the most of your strengths
and matches them to the needs of the customers you want to target. For example,
if a particular group of customers is looking for quality first and foremost, then any
marketing activity aimed at them should draw attention to the high quality of your
products or service.
Once this has been completed, decide on the best marketing activity that will
ensure your target market know about the products or services you offer, and why
they meet their needs.
This could be achieved through various forms of advertising, exhibitions, public
relations initiatives, or internet activity. Limit your activities to those methods you
think will work best, to avoid spreading your budget too thinly. A key element often
overlooked is that of monitoring and evaluating how effective your strategy has
been. This control element not only helps you see how the strategy is performing in
practice, it can also help inform your future marketing strategy. A simple approach
is to ask each new customer how they heard about your business.
Once you have decided on your marketing strategy, draw up a marketing plan to
set out how you intend to execute and evaluate the success of that strategy. The
plan should be constantly reviewed and, if necessary, updated so you can respond
quickly to changes in customer needs and attitudes in your industry and in the
broader economic climate.
Understanding your strengths and weaknesses
Your strategy must take account of how your business' strengths and weaknesses
will affect your marketing.
Begin your marketing strategy document with an honest and rigorous SWOT
analysis, looking at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is a
good idea to conduct some market research on your existing customers at this
point, as it will help you to build a more honest picture of your reputation in the
marketplace.
Strengths could include:
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personal and flexible customer service
special features or benefits that your service offers
specialist knowledge or skills
Weaknesses could include:
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limited financial resources
lack of an established reputation
inefficient accounting systems
Opportunities could include:
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increased demand from a particular market sector
using the internet to reach new markets
new technologies that allow you to improve product quality
Threats could include:
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the emergence of a new competitor
more sophisticated, attractive or cheaper versions of your service
new legislation increasing your costs
a downturn in the economy, reducing overall demand
Having done your analysis, you can then measure the potential effects each
element may have on your marketing strategy. For example, if new regulations will
increase the cost of competing in a market where you're already weak, you might
want to look for other opportunities. On the other hand, if you have a good
reputation and your key competitor is struggling, the regulations might present the
opportunity to push aggressively for new customers.
Developing your marketing strategy
With an understanding of your business' internal strengths and weaknesses and
the external opportunities and threats, you can develop a strategy that plays to
your own strengths and matches them to the emerging opportunities. You can
also identify your weaknesses and try to minimise them.
The next step is to draw up a detailed marketing plan that sets out the specific
actions to put that strategy into practice.
Questions to ask yourself when developing your strategy
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What changes are taking place in our business environment? Are these
opportunities or threats?
What are our strengths and weaknesses?
What do I want to achieve? Set clear, realistic objectives.
What are customers looking for? What are their needs?
Which customers are the most profitable?
How will I target the right potential customers? Are there groups that I can
target more effectively?
What's the best way of communicating with them?
Could I improve my customer service? This can be a low-cost way of
gaining a competitive advantage over rivals, keeping customers, boosting
sales and building a good reputation.
Could changing my services increase sales and profitability?
Could extending my service provision meet existing customers' needs more
effectively? Remember that selling more to existing customers is generally
more cost effective than continually trying to find new ones.
How will I price my service? Although prices need to be competitive, most
businesses find that trying to compete on price alone is a poor strategy.
What else are my customers interested in? Quality? Reliability? Efficiency?
Value for money?
How can I best promote my products? Options might include advertising,
direct marketing, exhibiting at trade fairs, PR or marketing on the web.
How can I tell if my marketing is effective? Check how your customers find
out about your business. A small-scale trial can be a good way of testing a
marketing strategy without committing to excessive costs.
Tips and pitfalls
Before looking at new markets, think about how you can get the most out of your
existing customer base - it's usually more economical and quicker than finding new
customers.
Consider whether you can sell more to your existing customers or look at ways of
improving the retention of key customers.
Focus on the market
Your marketing strategy should:
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analyse the different needs of different groups of customers
focus on a market niche where you can be the best
Don't forget the follow-up
Approach a third party for feedback about your strategy - they may be
able to spot any gaps or weaknesses that you can't see.
Put your marketing strategy into effect with a marketing plan that sets
out the aims, actions, dates, costs, resources and effective selling
programmes.
Measure the effectiveness of what you do. Be prepared to change things
that aren't working.
Pitfalls to avoid:
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Making assumptions about what customers want.
Ignoring the competition.
Trying to compete on price alone.
Relying on too few customers.
Trying to grow too quickly.
Becoming complacent about what you offer and failing to innovate.
Write a marketing plan
Introduction
Your marketing plan should be the reference document you use as a basis to
execute your marketing strategy. It sets out clear objectives and explains how you
will achieve them. Perhaps most importantly it looks at how you can ensure that
your plan becomes reality.
Remember that marketing in itself will not guarantee sales, but by adopting a wellresearched and coherent plan, you have a much better chance of building longterm, profitable relationships.
This guide outlines the key areas to look at and what to include in an effective
marketing plan.
Marketing plan summary and introduction
Your marketing plan should start with an executive summary. The summary gives
a quick overview of the main points of the plan.
Although the executive summary appears at the beginning of the plan, you should
write it last. Writing the summary is a good opportunity to check that your plan
makes sense and that you haven't missed any important points.
Business strategy
It's a good idea to introduce the main body of the plan with a reminder of your
overall business strategy, including:
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what your business is about (your business mission)
your key business objectives
your broad strategy for achieving those objectives
This helps to ensure that your marketing plan, your marketing strategy and your
overall business strategy all work together. For example, suppose your business
strategy is based on providing premium quality products and service. Your
marketing strategy and plan will need to take this into account, targeting customers
who appreciate quality, promoting your product in ways that help build the right
image and so on.
External and internal analysis for your marketing plan
Understanding the environment your business operates in is a key part of planning
and will allow you to discern the threats and opportunities associated with your
area of business. A PEST analysis helps you to identify the main opportunities and
threats in your market:
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Political and legal changes such as new regulations
Economic factors such as interest rates, exchange rates and consumer
confidence
Social factors such as changing attitudes and lifestyles, and the ageing
population
Technological factors such as new materials and growing use of the internet
You also need to understand your own internal strengths and weaknesses. For
example, the main strengths of a new business might be an original product and
enthusiastic employees. The main weaknesses might be the lack of an existing
customer base and limited financial resources.
A SWOT analysis combines the external and internal analysis to summarise your
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You need to look for
opportunities that play to your strengths. You also need to decide what to do about
threats to your business and how you can overcome important weaknesses. For
example, your SWOT analysis might help you identify the most promising
customers to target. You might decide to look at ways of using the internet to reach
customers. And you might start to investigate ways of raising additional investment
to overcome your financial weakness.
Your marketing objectives
Your marketing objectives should be based on understanding your strengths and
weaknesses, and the business environment you operate in. They should also be
linked to your overall business strategy.
For example, suppose your business objectives include increasing sales by 10 per
cent over the next year. Your marketing objectives might include targeting a
promising new market segment to help achieve this growth.
Objectives should always be SMART:
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Specific - for example, you might set an objective of getting ten new
customers.
Measurable - whatever your objective is, you need to be able to check
whether you have reached it or not when you review your plan.
Achievable - you must have the resources you need to achieve the
objective. The key resources are usually people and money.
Realistic - targets should stretch you, not de-motivate you because they are
unreasonable.
Time-bound - you should set a deadline for achieving the objective. For
example, you might aim to get ten new customers within the next 12
months.
Marketing strategy for your marketing plan
Your marketing plan is how you put your marketing strategy into practice. It should
therefore be a practical reflection of your strategy.
If you understand the market well, you can probably break it down into different
segments - groups of similar customers. For example, you can break the business
market down into businesses operating in the same sector and/or of a similar size.
For each segment, you need to look at what customers want, what you can offer
and what the competition is like. You want to identify segments where you have a
competitive advantage. At the same time, you should assess whether you can
expect high enough returns to make the segment worthwhile.
Often, the most promising segments are those where you have existing customers.
See what you can do to expand sales to these customers. If you are targeting new
customers, you need to be sure that you have the resources to reach them
effectively.
Once you have decided what your target market is, you also need to decide how
you will position yourself in it. For example, you might offer a flexible local service.
Some businesses try to build a strong brand and image to help them stand out.
Whatever your strategy, you need to differentiate yourself from the competition to
encourage customers to choose your business first.
Plan your marketing tactics
Once you have decided what your marketing objectives are, and your strategy for
meeting them, you need to plan how you will make the strategy a reality.
Many businesses find it helpful to think in terms of the four Ps:
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Product - what your product offers that your customers value, and
whether/how you should change your product to meet customer needs.
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Pricing - for example, you might aim simply to match the competition, or
charge a premium price for a quality product and service. You might have to
choose either to make relatively few high margin sales, or sell more but with
lower unit profits. Remember that some customers may seek a low price to
meet their budgets, while others may view a low price as an indication of
quality levels.
Place - how and where you sell. This may include using different distribution
channels. For example, you might sell over the internet or sell through
retailers.
Promotion - how you reach your customers and potential customers. For
example, you might use advertising, PR, direct mail and personal selling.
For a more comprehensive approach, you can extend this to seven Ps:
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People - for example, you need to ensure that your employees have the
right training.
Processes - the right processes will ensure that you offer a consistent
service that suits your customers.
Physical evidence - the appearance of your employees and premises can
affect how customers see your business. Even the quality of paperwork,
such as invoices, makes a difference.
Implementation of your marketing plan
Your marketing plan must do more than just say what you want to happen. It must
describe each step required to make sure that it happens. The plan should
therefore include a schedule of key tasks. This sets out what will be done, and by
when. Refer to the schedule as often as possible to avoid losing sight of your
objectives under the daily workload. It should also assess what resources you
need. For example, you might need to think about what brochures you need, and
whether they need to be available for digital distribution (by email or from your
website).
The cost of everything in the plan needs to be included in a budget. If your
finances are limited, your plan will need to take that into account. Don't spread
your marketing activities too thinly - it is better to concentrate your resources to
make the most of your budget. You may also want to link your marketing budget to
your sales forecast.
Control
As well as setting out the schedule, the plan needs to say how it will be controlled.
You need an individual who takes responsibility for pushing things along. A good
schedule and budget should make it easy to monitor progress. When things fall
behind schedule, or costs overrun, you need to be ready to do something about it
and to adapt your plan accordingly.
From time to time, you need to stand back and ask whether the plan is working.
What can you learn from your mistakes? How can you use what you know to make
a better plan for the future?
Tips for writing a marketing plan
It is important for a marketing plan to:
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set clear, realistic and measurable targets - for example, increasing sales by
10 per cent
include deadlines for meeting targets
provide a budget for each marketing activity
specify who is responsible for each activity
Make sure you think through each of your objectives logically. For example, you
might set a target for the number of new enquiries. But if you don't provide the
resources and training to follow up these enquiries and turn them into sales, you
will have increased costs without any benefits.
Link to your strategy
Assess the business environment to identify the opportunities and threats that you
face. Look for where you can capitalise on your strengths or where you need to
overcome a weakness. All parts of your business must work together. For
example, if you have limited cashflow you should avoid seeking large orders from
customers who demand extended credit or that will involve you in heavy, up-front
costs.
Remember to focus on your long-term strategy. Reducing customer service might
boost short-term profits, but next year you might not have any customers left.
Make it happen
A plan will not happen by itself. You need to make someone responsible for
monitoring progress and chasing up overdue activities. Reviewing progress will
also help you learn from your mistakes so that you can improve your plans for the
future.
Using Social Networking to promote your business – Facebook
case study
Social networking – more than friendship
Most people immediately think of social networking solely as online communities
for building friendships, developing relationships or keeping track of things that
interest them.
Fewer people however look at social networking as a means to promote their
business.
The most prominent social networking site is without a doubt Facebook with
staggering statistics to confirm its dominance in the social networking market:
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More than 250 million active users
More than 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day
More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college
The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older
More than 30 million users accessing Facebook via their mobile
Using social networking to promote your business
You will no doubt be wondering how you can use social networking to promote
your business and you are not alone. In addition to the large volume of users, most
social networking sites provide an easy to use and safe environment, communities
that are well indexed and cross-linked. In the Facebook scenario they are crosslinked based on the user, bringing together a community of people around that
user.
From the perspective of developing your business using social networking the first
step would be to create a Facebook profile based on your business. Doing so will
start to build a community around your business.
First steps to use social networking to promote your business
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When first creating your Facebook profile, ensure that you make your profile
viewable to all. This way Facebook users can join your network.
Invite your business colleagues and customers to become your friends,
creating a Facebook network around your business.
As with all good website promotion the much heard expression “Content is
King” is important. Build attractive and rich content that promotes your
website.
Look for other users or communities that share common interests. If for
example your business sells car tools look for car related communities and
join these as they may provide mutual contacts.
Further developing social networking to promote your business
As with all business development strategies, it is important to set aside time to
analyse results and take stock of the costs and benefits. Try different approaches
to Facebook, look at integrating your blog to Facebook. Importing your blog is fairly
straight forward and will appear on your Facebook homepage and will update as
you update your blog.
Some final advantages and strategies to use social networking to promote your
business
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Develop Fan Pages to promote your business. In contrast to standard user
or business profiles which are behind a login, most Fan Pages do not require
a login and get indexed by search engines.
As with all Facebook pages, pages can include links providing a link back to
your website.
If you go down the Fan Pages route make use of the “update to fans”. This
sends updates or messages to members of your Fan Page.
In the current climate a final but huge consideration is that Facebook is free
Why your firm should be using social networking
Social networking sites offer free advertising, a direct method of communication
with customers and a way to increase the hits on your company's website
In the last decade the internet has become ubiquitous with business. It is now
unheard of for any small company that wants to taken seriously to not have a
professional looking website. All indications are that this is the way that social
networking is going - that in ten years it will be as common for SMEs to have a
presence on social networking sites as well as their own internet site.
Social networking is a way for small companies to raise their profile, directly
communicate with clients and potential clients, create natural weblinks back to their
site and engage in free marketing.
The most common social networking sites are Facebook, Bebo and Twitter. Social
networking is a relatively new phenomenon and can be defined as the grouping of
individuals into specific groups, like a community.
According to a recent O2 survey, an estimated 700,000 small businesses are using
the social networking site Twitter with 6,000 more joining every day. The poll of
500 small firms found that 17% are already using Twitter, with 25% of these SMEs
signing up to the social networking site in the last month.
One way for a company to grow is by having people click on their websites to view
their products and services. An essential component of getting clicks on your site is
by having links to different sites, and links can be obtained through other sites or
by paying search engines for them.
One method to obtain natural links is to link back to your original web site within
the social media sites you set up. Many social media sites will allow you to include
a information about yourself or your company and in many cases, add a link or
links to your sites. The bottom line is that social media profiles create opportunities
for natural links.
Small companies can sign up the social networking sites for free and, as long as
they update then regularly, can use them to build up their brands profile and
regularly connect with customers. It is clear that small companies should at least
consider social networking as a cost-effective method to drive their firm forward.
Here are just six of the reasons why I say that ignoring the Social Media trend
would be the worst business decision that any of us could ever make
1. People now communicate more regularly via social networks than they do
by email.
The way that we all interact and acquire information is evolving again. Nielsen
Online Research notes that membership-based communities are visited by more
than two-thirds of Internet users from around the entire world. Also, according to
Nielsen, social networking websites like Facebook and blogs received more
Internet user time than email did throughout 2008 suggesting that this indicates
that email is how older people communicate while social networks and text
messaging are the preferred communication method for the younger generation.
2. Social networking is not just for teenagers.
In 2008, 35 - 49 year olds represented the biggest growth segment for the social
networking sector. Some of the people I meet who are choosing to ignore Social
Media do so, they tell me, because they believe that it is "just for kids". It isn't.
Don't make the same mistake in your business.
3. People spend more time in social networks when they're online.
Nielsen also noted that, here in the UK, one in every six minutes online, was being
spent in, or on, the social networking websites making them stand out clearly as
the places where more and more people are choosing to connect.
4. Social Media is not just for small businesses
If further evidence was needed as to the growing importance of Social Media
consider some of the large brand names that are innovating and using Social
Media to their advantage:
Burger King launched their "sacrifice ten friends" Facebook application in which
we were asked to delete 10 of our Facebook friends in order to get a free
Whopper. Naturally, Facebook didn't like it, but their users didn't seem to mind too
much; the campaign went viral with over 20,000 users sacrificing 200,000 friends
in order to get their hands on a free burger.
Facebook, as you can imagine, shut the application down quickly, citing "privacy
concerns" but the effect proved the point; Social Media, used correctly, can make a
huge impact on your brand. Burger King's campaign was an absolute hit largely
due to their lack of hesitancy in pushing the envelope and their willingness to do
something a little different.
Starbucks have gone so far as to create a new website; My Starbucks Idea where
Starbucks customers and fans can give their suggestions and other people can
vote on them. The most popular suggestions are highlighted and reviewed.
Starbucks even have an "Ideas in Action" section; a blog that gives updates on the
status of relevant suggestions. By brilliantly giving a voice to their web savvy
customers, Starbucks have succeeded in building a true community around
their business.
5. Social Media to build a community around your business is not just for
large businesses
Don't make the mistake either of thinking that you need to be a corporate to build a
community around your business using Social Media. I've heard too many small
businesses tell me that they only target their "local area" and that, therefore, social
media wouldn't be of much use to them. They forget that one of the most
significant benefits of the new paradigm of Social Media and social networking is
the ability to open dialogue or start a conversation with your customers, no matter
where in the world they are.
6. Despite the recession, most marketers are increasing their spend on
Social Media
We all know that in a recession, budgets get cut, jobs are lost and those still in
work are expected to do more, in the same amount of time, with less resources.
Despite the fact that this is apparently our reality in 2009, a new Forrester
Research report demonstrates that 145 global interactive marketers in both
business-to-business and business-to-consumer companies with greater than 250
employees are increasing their marketing spend. What's more, over half of them
intend to specifically increase the amount they spend on Social Media.