3
More companies use social networking
Facebook homepage
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
TEXT OF STORY
Social networking isn't just for socializing anymore. Companies like Ford, Southwest Airlines and Pepsi are getting serious about Twitter and Facebook and other sites. And they're changing corporate culture to do it. Marketplace's Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.
STACEY VANEK-SMITH: As companies slash advertising budgets and staff, they are beefing up their presence in another area.
SCOTT MONTY: Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Delicious, Scribd, Upcoming...
Scott Monty is the multimedia communications manager for Ford motor Company. He manages Ford's presence on social networking sites. He says this is a whole different way for companies and customers to communicate.
Monty: People would say, hey Ford, I love your new music video or that commercial sucked, or whatever they say, because it's totally candid. And I would be on the Ford Twitter account, and I would answer them back and they would be flabbergasted that Ford Motor company was listening in on what they're saying about Ford Motor Company.
Sites like Facebook and Twitter can also act as a cheap and super-fast focus group. Paula Berg heads up emerging media for Southwest Airlines. She says when Southwest ran color ads on their print-out tickets, people started complaining on Twitter. They didn't like the ads using up their pricey colored ink.
Paula Berg: So we got that information, sent it to our CEO, sent it to our marketing folks and within 24 hours those ads were black and white. We didn't have to have a focus group about it, we just saw it and took action.
Industry analyst Laura Didio says social networking sites are changing the way companies communicate.
LAURA DIDIO: It forces you to think, it forces you to be edgy and say what you need to say in a very short space of time. And I think that is a byword of doing business today.
Didio says the recession is pushing companies to get creative and social networking can be a great, and inexpensive, way to develop brand presence and a relationship with customers.
I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith for Marketplace.
The Other Side of the Coin: Inverse Search
3 Important Points:
1. Not everything is meant to be social or publicized.
2. Reducing the need to search reduces information overload.
3. Delivering advertising in response to consumer inquiries instead of in advance of them reduces waste and information overload.
What you want, when you want it. â„¢
InverSearch is a commercial exchange for information, opportunities, products, resources and services.
No searching. Connect with multiple businesses simultaneously with a single confidential message, increase efficiency and reduce information overload.
No advertising. Businesses receive inquiries directly from consumers and other businesses without advertising, which results in lower costs and higher conversion rates.
No irrelevant results. Inquiries and responses are user-generated content.
For more information please visit the InverSearch About page at http://www.inversearch.com/Default.aspx?selected=about and the InverSearch Blog at http://inversearch.blogspot.com.
Kelly, you raise an excellent point. Part of the role of the shrewd online communicator is to understand what warrants and response and what doesn't. But it's also important not to underestimate the Twittermob - they've done damage before to brands like Motrin and Domino's.
Scott Monty
Global Digital Communications
Ford Motor Company
I'm glad to see that companies are listening to customers. I worry that companies could easily fall into the trap of over-reacting to comments they see from customers (e.g. pulling an ad campaign because of something one person said). It is important to look for common themes, evaluate the influence/impact of the person making the comment and analyze against larger objectives/strategies. You'll never please everyone.
