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December 2009— Vol. 87, No. 10

 

Communicating in the age of Web 2.0

Promises and pitfalls of new media as a business tool

By Steve Higgins

 

Kevin Ahern knows the exact number of friends he has as a business owner—853.

At least that’s how many people had signed up as Facebook friends of his Hamden-based company, Litchfield Builders Inc., as of early November. Given the explosive growth in social media, that number is likely higher today.

“It’s a very effective communication tool, because you can send messages to people
at any time,” says Ahern, company president. “For example, I took a class to become an EPA-certified renovator, and I posted that on Facebook. All of our contacts knew then that
I would have that certification.”

Ahern says Litchfield’s use of social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn is helping build awareness of the company. “I’ve had a lot of people contact us because they didn’t know we do commercial work as well as residential, and they found out that we do
commercial work through Facebook,” he says.

Companies large and small are joining the social media revolution, which promises
to turbocharge traditional word-of-mouth advertising as millions of new users log onto Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Plurk, Bebo, Meetup, Picasa, epinions, Yelp, Digg, Mixx, and many others.

All of these online communities have one thing in common—they allow users to communicate with each other and build contacts upon contacts in an ever-widening spiral of digital interaction. Companies can leverage social media to develop prospects and products and drive brand loyalty.

The social media space is one part of Web 2.0—the second stage of web development, which allows users to interact with other users rather than passively consume online content. Other facets of Web 2.0 include blogs (which number an estimated 200 million worldwide), wikis, web syndication, tagging, and consumer review sites.

Social media has quickly become the fastest-growing sector within the Web 2.0 universe, and with more than 300 million users worldwide, Facebook is the giant of the social media world.

Getting it right

Companies that want to establish a social networking presence need to think about more than short-term sales opportunities. “If you approach it from the point of view that you are just out to sell products, it’s going to fail,” says Brent Robertson, cofounder of Fathom LLC, a marketing and web design firm based in Hartford. “You have to look at it for the long term.”

For businesses, social media is about engaging an audience in a conversation and working with customers and others over time to “co-create your brand,” Robertson says. And he cautions that effectively leveraging social media is not limited to sending tweets, uploading videos to YouTube, or placing product photos on Flickr.

“Social media is just one leg of the stool; it’s not a silver bullet,” he says. “It needs to be coordinated with web development, print design, branding, and direct outreach.”

The key to success lies in enabling transparent and immediate two-way communication between your company and your customers and other stakeholders, Robertson says. Create a presence on the appropriate social media sites that allows people to learn about and discuss your products and services in a way that is helpful to them, he says. Do that, and sales opportunities will naturally follow.

For example, Wireless Zone hired Fathom to increase its visibility as a franchise opportunity in the cell phone industry. After Fathom worked with company officials to revitalize the brand online, the company’s website became a lively community for wireless enthusiasts, and Wireless Zone has become more visible via YouTube and Twitter, Robertson says. That increased visibility helped the company grow 33% during the 2009 economic downturn, company officials have said.

Another Fathom client, a health care company, is using social media sites for help with research and development. The company had several potential products and needed to decide which ones to bring to market, so it went online and asked customers for input. The company received valuable feedback, Robertson says.

Companies need to get involved in social media because their competitors will gain an advantage by doing so. Be part of your industry’s dialog, Robertson argues. “Let’s say there is someone who’s out there besmirching your name online. You need to have the opportunity to interact with that person and to make things better,” he says.

He cautioned, however, that half measures may do more harm than good. “The Internet is regulated by the general public, and if your presence is flimsy, they’re going to rip you to shreds. It takes a mind shift, and it affects every level of the organization. If it isn’t a major initiative, it will fail,” he says.

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