The Facebook IPO has social media in the headlines. The big item to consider is:
How does social media help our businesses and us?
For most of my clients and me social media is something that is necessary to do, in varying degrees, but it’s not essential to success (although it probably will be in the future). What got me thinking of this were recent experiences with Comcast and Amazon.
- I gave a bad review on Amazon because of a shipping and delivery issue (the item came with postage due). Within one hour the company responded, offered to pay the shipping overage and asked me if I would change my review, which I did because the product was fine.
- A few months ago I couldn’t get an answer from Comcast customer service when I asked why HBO wouldn’t stream to my Roku box (or Apple TV). So, I asked it on Twitter. I received an answer almost immediately.
In addition, I heard, as part of the Facebook hoopla, GM announce they would no longer advertise on Facebook because it wasn’t productive (Ford will continue).
The bottom line is that social media a medium that has to be evaluated the same as any other marketing vehicle. What works for you may not work for me and vice versa. It’s a lot more important for consumer driven companies that B2B and professional service providers.
“The key to success isn’t much good until one discovers the right lock to insert it in.” Chinese lecturer Tehyi Hsieh