« | »

Three benefits, other than ROI, that social media can have for your business

The first thing most companies want to know on approaching a social media or community management plan is, what kind of ROI will I get? Which is fair enough. After all, what’s the point in investing huge amount into a strategy if the bank is empty at the end?

But social media can have a multitude of other benefits for a company, helping improve their reputation and providing a solid standing for further improvements.

Intrigued? Check out three of the benefits below.

1.Understanding your customers

Many businesses, in particular SMEs, believe they know exactly what the customer wants. Yet, often it’s not until they hear directly from their community on Facebook, and Linked In that they discover what their customers need and want. This extended knowledge can help with future product and service developments, promotional activities and even targeted advertising.

2.Discovering new opportunities

Following on from a deeper understanding of your customers, being more aware of your profiles in social media and building a community enable you to pick up on new trends and growing needs before your competitors.

3.Dealing with customer complaints/comments quickly

Social media is a bit of a double-edged sword now for complaining customers. Thanks to the advent of Twitter and the like, if someone wishes to complain they’re able to do so to a much larger (and more influential) audience. On the other hand, it also allows a business to respond quickly in real-time, reducing the damage and possibly flipping the situation in their favour.

It’s also a great way to pick up on positive comments and use them as promotional tools.

So there’s a few alternative benefits of social media and building your community. Let us know if you have any more suggestions.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 11:59 am and is filed under Social Networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Three benefits, other than ROI, that social media can have for your business”

  1. 40deuce Says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    Great post!
    This is something I advocate all the time myself. Social media is not just about ROI, although if you do it right, it will eventually lead to ROI.
    Social media is about connecting with people. The three examples you use in this post are great ways that companies can connect with the public. We share with them, we interact with them, we learn from them and we build relationships with them.
    If people can do these things well, the people will recognize it and remember them when it does come time for them to make a purchase or whatever. ROI on social media is not and usually will not be instant, but by focusing more on the other areas of social media, the ROI will eventually show itself.

    Cheers,

    Sheldon, community manager for Sysomos

Leave a comment