You are working in a small organisation in Ireland where you manufacture a product for sale. 99% of your income comes from sale of this product in bulk to large companies in Ireland, Europe and further afield. Your product plays a key part in their end-product, which goes largely unseen by end consumers who are unaware that your company plays a part in the client's finished product.
Essentially, your markets are exports in bulk and the people you want to market yourself to are major buyers in your existing and prospective clients' organisations. You routinely tailor your production to match the specific product requirements of your clients and this flexibility is one major positive that you want to relay to these core group of buyers.
Only 1% of your income comes from retail directly to consumers, through traditional shops and supermarkets. This is a largely static part of your business over a number of years.
Because you are a small organisation, you need to put in place a communciations and social media strategy to improve your bottom line, but your expertise levels internally and resources in terms of man-hours are a major concern.
At present, you have no online presence - no website, no social media, nothing.
Do you:
a) Go headlong for Facebook - it's free, it has the highest number of active users in terms of media strategy, and it has the potential to reach the most retail consumers?
b) Jump right into a company website, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Flickr, Youtube, and other other appropriate pllatforms, using a broad scatter-gun approach, hoping it will pay dividends across the board?
c) Pick one of these channels and use it for a month to investigate how well it works for your business, then another, then another, and pick which had the best results after six or so months to truly make your own?
d) Beef up your website to control your own message at source, and hope this will filter through to better bottom line resources?
e) Be strategic, using a number of components, start up your website and pick your platforms to match where improvements will truly add to your bottom line, and focus on those?
Do you find, while thinking that you know nothing about social and online media, that you have an opinion about this hypothetical? Having a light-bulb moment?
You do not need to be a social media guru to decide your own social media strategy and be in charge of driving that strategy. You have the building blocks to put together a Social Media strategy for your organisation, and those building blocks are based on common-sense, and basic Marketing for Dummies ideas.
There are definitely some instances where it Facebook is the best platform for social media. Ditto for Twitter. Or for Linked-In.
Check out the banks in Ireland - they are picking and choosing the social media they feel best reflects them. They are using company websites for their own controlled message, and at present, largely steering clear of social media with interactivity - the negatives out-weigh the positives in that regard at present because the negative interactions might be unmanageable at present. They are dabbling with social media for Corporate Social Responsibility projects, or for specific campaigns, where they have used common sense and decided it is an effective tool.
However, in a small organisation like the hypothetical outlined above, where man-hours are tight and ROI is key - use your head. Don't follow the crowd... Match your actions with where improvements in your branding and marketing can create the most revenue.
In the case I created above, I would be inclined to say that a company website highlighting the quality of the product, and the flexibility of the business is key - with detailed information about your capabilities, it will help major buyers when you direct them to your website, or when they find it on spec themselves. If you couple that with a Linked-In campaign to target a new potential buyer a week and generate leads for business, you would be going a long way to have an online space, inform your current clients about your existing products and potential products, grow your potential client base.
Along-side these website steps, you are taking actions which match your company's lack of expertise in this field (setting up a website, or Linked-In page are well within any company's capabilities) and your concerns that large investments of time by employees will not bear fruit. In time, the company could use twitter to build a relationship with kindred companies, or clients, using the short 'n' sweet 140 characters as a bullet point way to showcase new products, changes in your business.
Et, voila. There you have it, your very own home-grown social media strategy, or at very least, the foundations upon which is can grow.
And, the answer to the question? Is Facebook the best platform for business to business? Not necessarily.
- Don't be afraid of social media as being beyond you. It is different to your core business, but not rocket science.
- Don't be a lemming following the crowd devoting hours to Facebook, or to any other platform, if you believe your target customers aren't there.
Common sense should dictate. As it does in your business.
