Companies are wondering how social networks will work for them and whether they should engage on those fronts. They've been told they should be doing it. They just aren't sure why or how. On one hand, some companies are thinking of these social networks as different channels for the same methods they have been trying in traditional marketing. On the other hand, some are just wondering how to get involved, which platforms will do what for them, and where to start. Here are some thoughts.
LinkedIn is a fairly safe place to start for a business. It's targeted toward business professionals and is built mostly to be an online profile repository and a reputation management system. But it can be used for more.
LinkedIn is a great way to recruit into your business insofar as how your people write about themselves in their profiles. If your organization is on there, and people's profiles all seem to say good things about the organization, that's another way that folks can form an impression and interact with your company.
It's also a way to share knowledge and give an impression of your abilities. You can answer questions on LinkedIn. Sometimes this becomes an exercise in branding that can bode nicely for your company.
I personally have mixed feelings about Facebook. At the least, it's a place where you as an individual can build a profile and have another touch point to the Web and to the potential of meeting new people with similar interests. Putting together a decent profile isn't especially difficult, but there are a few things I'd recommend:
Use a picture that is more candid than posed.
Consider which applications to add to your profile. They tell people a lot about you. Sure, you're going along with the crowd, but why?
Join groups before you consider starting any. Participate.
Evaluate the value of your efforts. Don't just stay there because people told you to be there.
What do you think? Are you using Facebook in a business way? Do you like it? Are you getting value?
Ah, how do I describe Twitter? I have done so too many times to repeat myself in this part of the book. My business point about Twitter is this: Provided you are using Twitter conversationally and mixing and matching between sharing things about other people and maybe somewhat less about what you're doing, then it can be a useful tool for getting the message out.
I use Twitter a lot to ask questions. Some of my questions are just to promote conversation. Other times, I use it to direct attention to things that are useful or that matter, like social causes. Sometimes, I point Twitter toward my own stuff.
In general, social networks are useful for bringing about awareness, for meeting people outside the organization, and, as Rachel Happe from the Community Roundtable often says, for capturing unstructured information (e.g., status messages). Tread gently in using social networks, as the return on their use can be questionable. It's all a matter of engagement. How one engages is one thing. Why one engages is another. What you get out of the engagement is obviously the most important.