Social Media – Why Use It For Your Business?

If you are already using social media for your business, the answer to “Why use it?” may be obvious. But if are still unclear of its merits, or you aren’t using social media yet, then this brief introduction will be useful.

“Social media” is a collection of services including social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter. Each service is best suited to specific situations.

As a business, you can set up an account with any of these services that are relevant. This can be for your company, a specific brand, or yourself as an individual. People can then link to the account from their own account, such as by clicking a “Follow” or “Like” button.  You can then:

1. Broadcast to these people, including text, photos, videos and links to blogs or web sites
2. Get feedback and questions from these people, and enter into conversations
3. In some cases allow discussions between these people. This can be positive or negative, so the latter needs to be handled carefully

The main uses are therefore for:

1. Marketing, such as news announcements and special offers
2. Interacting with influencers and other people who you can help or can help you
3. Customer service, including answering questions
4. Technical support, such as for software
5. Public service announcements

This can be for Business to Consumer (B2C) or Business to Consumer (B2B), depending on the service used

There are also services for specific purposes, such as to issue electronic discount coupons and based around location, which are becoming increasingly popular.

As with many things, a key reason to use social media is to get ahead of your competitors, or not to be left behind. However using it poorly can be detrimental to your business, and it's worth having clear objectives of what you are trying to achieve. There’s a number of practical do’s and don’ts.

Bear in mind that these services are public. They don’t replace the need for private communication mechanisms through your website, such as for complaints.

Taking a look at the main services:

Facebook

You set up an account using “Pages”, which people can “Like”. For them your site becomes similar to one of their friends.

You can set whether you will allow people to add comments, photos, videos and/or links on your “wall”. If you do , then you can hold a conversation just with that person, or a discussion involving potentially many people.

As Facebook tends to be used in a personal capacity, this service is best for B2C and of limited use for B2B.

Twitter

By setting up an account people can “follow” the tweets that you send. They can also send you tweets, which you can choose to reply to or not.

Tweets are only 140 characters. But they can contain links to web sites, which is also the basis for communicating photos, videos and longer pieces of text.

Twitter can be used for both B2C and B2B.

MySpace

In 2006 this was the leading social networking service worldwide, but has since been eclipsed by Facebook. MySpace has recently announced that they will become a media hub for music, TV and video. They now link to Facebook for social networking.

MySpace is therefore of limited business interest. However for businesses in entertainment, especially musical acts, it is still a useful place to have an account.

YouTube

By posting a video onto YouTube:
•    People can comment on the video
•    You can link to the video from your web site, tweets, etc
•    You can embed the video into a web page on your main site


There are many other systems, so this article has only been a quick introduction to the uses of social media. If you would like to discuss further, do contact me.

Forecasting and Performance Analysis - Alternative Systems

Forward planning and performance monitoring are both important management functions for any business or organisation.  This is true at any time, but especially when finance is being raised or banking facilities need to be monitored.

Budgeting and forecasting is a regular activity for most organisations, together with variance analysis against actuals.

But all too often these processes are using systems which are difficult to use and maintain. In many organisations they are the most ineffective practices in management. They take everyone too much time.

In this article I've written for the IT Faculty of the ICAEW, here are some tips for how alternative systems can help, and what to look out for.

Cloud Computing – Which Type? Does it Matter?

When putting your business applications such as accounting and CRM “into the cloud”, there are various ways this can be achieved.

In each case the server that stores your data and runs the centralised software is hosted by a third party, and you typically pay a form of subscription. This is therefore called “Software as a Service” (SaaS). The main methods are:

• “Pure SaaS”: Systems written specifically for the internet, accessible using a web browser. Usually adopt a multi-tenancy database whereby the various users share the server and software.
• Hosted traditional software: If a system can be run on-premise and accessed remotely through a comms link, it has the potential to be hosted in the cloud.
• Hosted systems that you access using software other than a web-browser. This allows the whole screen to be optimised for the application.
• Smartphone/tablet apps: Again you can access the hosted system using an app downloaded to the device

These methods are termed “public cloud”. There is also the concept of “private cloud”, whereby systems written for the internet are run on-premise (or hosted by your regular outsourcer).

Whilst some people would disagree whether all these methods qualify as “cloud”, they nonetheless share many of the benefits and risks. Each method then has its own pros and cons. For example “pure SaaS” is usually only suitable if you can work with the standard functionality that everyone is sharing. If you need any custom functionality, you’ll usually need to take a different approach.

When looking at a particular offering that is being called “cloud”, it is worth understanding exactly how it will work and the practical pros and cons. This can have a significant effect on which service you decide to use.

If you would like help in this assessment, do give me a call on 01628 632914 or send me an email.

News Update - Monday 24/1/11

Here's the pick of the last week's news stories that are likely to impact your business:

Use of Quick Response (QR) codes. Initially for tracking parts in vehicle manufacture, there are other uses in general business now smartphones with QR readers are becoming widely available

Barcode display. Conversely getting a smartphone to display a barcode can unlock activities such as payments from a pre-paid account.

Tablet computers such as the iPad.  Why use them in your business?

Passphrase rather than password. A more powerful security technique we’re likely to see more frequently