Social media is changing the way we create, publicize and report on events. In light of Facebook, it’s now possible to raise awareness about a particular event through social networking tools, take bookings and raise awareness via Twitter and other such social media.
Essentially, this is still an elective process, but with social media exploding in popularity, it has become a route few can afford to ignore.
Does social media represent a genuine opportunity for small businesses — or are we in danger of falling victim to yet more hype?
Wayne Smallman, FSB member, founder of web design and development consultancy Octane Interactive and author of The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media, says:
Be careful about being too candid, entering into heated and bad-tempered debates and arguments, or making disparaging, negative and very public comments about clients, as well as other people. Unless you’re absolutely certain of the people in your social network, apply the ‘mother rule’ – would my mother be offended if she read this?
On the back of the success of my popular ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media, the Emily Cagle Communications website and blog provides a wonderful case study for using social media marketing for your business.
Emily Cagle is a marketing and communications consultant who enlisted Octane’s services shortly after reading my ebook and then putting some of the things I wrote about into practice. We’ve both worked together to produce a website and blog we can both be very proud of.
As I mention over on the Social Media Marketing Technology blog:
“It must come as little surprise to know that both Emily & I are thrilled with the end result, which you can read more about in my case study on the Emily Cagle Communications website. But this is only the beginning. We’ve both been working on planning a long-term social media strategy, making the most of the key technologies out there, like Facebook and Twitter to help promote her business.”
If you’d like to know more about the specifics of the project, and Emily’s thoughts, take a look at the Emily Cagle case study, as well as visuals on the portfolio page.
Marketers who are new to using social media for customer interaction have been given the abbreviation SPICE to help them maximize their use of the medium. In a Fresh Business Thinking article, Wayne Smallman created the abbreviation, which he said stands for Support, Publicize, Integrate, Control and Enhance.
Social media websites and networks can be used to support and publicize a company, while firms should also take care to integrate social media within marketing, Mr Smallman explained.
Ford Test Drive Social Media, Avoid Head-on Legal Crash In an attempt to avert a “potential PR nightmare” Ford Motor Company read the social media signs and avoided a head-on legal crash, where their reputation would have felt the full force of the collision.
Sure, it’s a given Ford would have won the legal battle, had things gone that way. But in winning the battle, Ford would have risked losing the social media war. And on the web, the survivability of a brand is all to do with winning the hearts and the minds of the very people you’re appealing to.