There are still many companies that have not decided whether they should get on the social media bandwagon. Many of these firms are wondering whether social media can help or hurt their existing efforts. Others are simply unsure of what to do.
To help provide answers to these questions, I have compiled a short list of articles I've run across recently that may show the way. (Note: I have included blogs in with other social media platforms even though I am aware that some people do not consider blogs to actually be under the social media umbrella).
First, let's define what social media is. The best definition I've seen is: Social Media is any site that has more than 50% of its content created by users. This means that sites like YouTube or Flikr, for which users upload videos and pictures, are social media sites.
It also means that bookmarking sites like Digg or Delicious, are also social media because it is the users that submit and "vote" on the importance of the web pages catalogued on them.
Blogs, as I have mentioned before, is a judgment call because the owner generally writes the blog posts, but readers may comment on these posts. So in this instance, the 50% rule may or may not apply, but nevertheless, blogs create communities and allow for back and forth dialogue between the owner and the readers.
With that said, here are the articles I think may be helpful:
- The Power of One Knowledgeable, Dedicated Social Media Marketer, written by Brian Friedlander, shows how one marketing executive whose timely response to a blog post about her company's product, not only answered numerous questions but positioned the product for better sales.
- Why You Should Be Video Blogging, by Kailee Brown (no relation) gives an excellent explanation of how video blogs can really boost a company's web presence.
- 20 Ways Twitter Helps Businesses Beat The Economic Downturn, provides a helpful laundry list of ways Twitter can help a business grow during an economic downturn.
- How Social Media Helped Us Reach 25+ Countries and Close New Deals In 60 Days, is a case study showing how one company achieved great results, with no out-of-pocket cost, in just 60 days.
- 5 Answers to Tough Questions Companies Have About Using Social Media, by Monica O'Brien discusses how social media can help a company market itself and how to get the most benefit from using these tools.
- Open Letter to Running Companies: Please Put Your Brand on Twitter & Facebook!, by Corey Irwin, is a spunky article explaining the why and how to of marketing with social media.
- Twitter: How To Generate Contacts, Leads And New Clients. Who doesn't want to generate more contacts, leads and new clients? This article shows how useful Twitter is as a prospecting tool.
- How To Make twitter A Powerful Networking Tool. Networking is a given in the offline business world, but how do you transition those skills to online networking? This is a great article showing how to build a large and dynamic network with Twitter.
- White paper on how marketers are using social media, by Michael Stelzner. Mike is always a source for great information and he never does anything half way. This white paper shows how other businesses are using social media. Many of them are your competitors, don't you want to keep up?
- The Value of Social Media Marketing, by Mark Aaron Murnahan discusses why social media is a must marketing tool for companies today. The rub, he says, is that it doesn't fit neatly into old metrics. Trying to measure return on investment for social media is like trying to measure the value of every handshake or hello Instead he shows how value can be found in other ways that are good for business.
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