"Social Media Means Business" | Service and Brewery Industry | SAP Business One
Social Media – “Everybody’s doing it”
Social Media has been a very hot topic thus far in 2010. It is important to realize that due to the high influx of global users utilizing Social Media applications, it only makes sense for businesses to follow suit. There are numerous social applications online which are free at our fingertips: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Buzz, MySpace, MSN Messenger, Skype, Foursquare, AOL Chat… However; due to the considerable amount of users, as well as the media attention they create, Facebook and Twitter probably stand out above the rest in the Social Media crowd.
“Social Media MEANS Business”
I know you can interpret the title of this blog, “Social Media Means Business,” a couple different ways; 1) Figuratively - Regardless of the sociality and entertainment of its nature, Social Media is serious, and it does mean business. For example, as of last month, Facebook now has over 500 million users. This makes Facebook the third largest country (in population) in the world. That’s a bit powerful, isn’t it? 2) Literally - Social Media does mean, and equal, business. Where the people go, advertisers and marketers must follow. Industries and businesses across the world are capitalizing on this opportunity. According to www.mashable.com (the most reliable source for the latest Social Media news), advertisers are to spend $1.7 billion on Social Media networks in 2010, and $3.3 billion worldwide (Click Here for the article with year comparisons). This rapidly increasing number illustrates a business shift in moving away from the traditional tools for marketing, and more towards Social Media.
Facebook in the Service and Brewery Industry
There are many industries that can effectively utilize Social Media. The Service Industry, in my opinion, has the most potential because their business is centered on service and their guests. What better way to communicate, and to be connected with your customers than through the internet and Social Media? For example, a Brewery who has a large fan base, and communicates well with its fans is The Bruery in Orange County, CA. Within the Restaurant Industry, a shining example that has a great page layout as well is Gott’s Roadside. There are many good pages out there, but these are just a couple that lead by example.
Twitter in Business and #SAP Business One
Twitter is a great resource for market research for any company too. Because of Twitter, we now have live streaming consumer feedback at our fingertips. And it is free! One of the greatest features of Twitter is its Search tool – www.search.twitter.com. This is extremely powerful when following your industry’s trends, and consumer input. It is also important to note that when tweeting, by inserting a hashtag (hash symbol –“#”) for a common topic, you are allowing twitter to better organize and sort your tweets for searches. Hashtags are great tools for conferences and events as well. For example, at the recent ASUG SAP Business One Summit, our team and some others started using the following hashtag; #ASUGB1Summit. This is effective for making reference to a specific event and subject, and you can review the tweets/feedback collectively.
Lastly, I did want to briefly mention LinkedIn as well. This platform is a great resource to connect more professionally within a Social Media atmosphere. LinkedIn recently upgraded its Groups’ features, which make it even more user-friendlier for companies. One feature that is really nice is the discussion boards. By posting a discussion, you can create and start a dialogue with other business professionals in your industry, from across the world.
About Orchestra Team
Orchestra LLC is a Business Technology provider for small and midsize companies in Oregon, Washington, and California. We help small and mid-size businesses solve problems. Whether it be software, hardware, the web, or services, we have it in our tool belt. We understand small business and can help increase revenue or reduce cost through our wide range of products and services.
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