What started out as a fun way for friends to converse and build their social networks is now embraced by businesses as an indispensable tool for communicating with customers.  

Marketing is all about understanding and building relationships with customers, and social media is an ideal tool for doing just that. Unlike traditional advertisements (broadcast and print), which talk at customers, social media enables businesses to talk with customers and engage them in meaningful two-way conversations.

Used properly, social media tools can greatly improve your understanding of and communication with your customers. Unfortunately, too many businesses approach social media as just another way to market to customers, instead of as a way to improve their marketing. This is an important distinction to make, because social media works best not as a promotional tool, but as a way to communicate with and listen to your customers.

The more ways you offer customers to provide you with feedback, the better equipped you will be to effectively market – and advertise to them. When your customers feel like their voice is heard, and they see you acting on their comments, they are more likely to respect and become evangelists for you.

To Blog or Not to Blog
Businesses that ignore social media miss out on huge relationship-building opportunities. The question is not whether participating in social media can benefit your business, but which forms of social media are right for you.

To determine which social media tools are right for your business, you need to understand your customers. In the Internet age, this means knowing how they search for information. Which search engines do they use? Which social networks, if any, do they participate in? Do they subscribe to blogs? Do they download podcasts?

Once you’ve determined their interests and usage patterns, and you’ve settled on a social media form, it’s time to look honestly at your company’s resources. No matter which form you choose it will take someone dedicated and devoted to keeping it up.

For more information on social media and for help deciding which is best for you, contact us at DRB Partners, 408.943.0515 or toll-free 877.234.2094.

Social Media: an umbrella term covering media (text, video, audio) that is posted, distributed and shared on the Internet.

Following are some of the most common social media formats and how they work:

Blogs
“Blogs,” short for “Web logs,” are online podiums that make it easy for anyone to publish their writings, musings and opinions on the Web. Initially used by individuals as online journals, blogs have exploded in popularity among news agencies, businesses, and regular citizens. With an informal tone and a limited editorial review process, blogs can be more up-to-the-minute than other mainstream media. Most bloggers invite comments and feedback from readers. Some bloggers publish multiple posts daily, while many businesses post new content two to five times a week. A well-written blog can greatly improve a company’s reputation. Almost all blogs support RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which enables readers to subscribe to and receive automatic updates of their favorite blogs. 

Micro-Blogs
Like the name suggests, a micro-blog is a very short text post, kind of like a sound bite. Micro-blog sites enable you to create a profile and post short messages and links to your profile, even via your cell phone. Currently, the most popular micro-blogging site is Twitter (www.twitter.com). Twitter’s site is similar to a chat room, except only the people who “follow” you will see your messages, and every message is limited to 140 characters. You can block whomever you choose from seeing your messages.

The real value of micro-blogging lies in its immediacy. Micro-blogging enables you to provide real-time updates to friends and followers. You can post an alert about a traffic snarl downtown and organize a political demonstration for that afternoon. And if, say, you’re a club owner, you can “tweet” about a change to tonight’s musical lineup.

Services such as Tweetscan (www.tweetscan.com) let you search for messages from Twitter users who post without blocks. For example, as a business owner, this allows you to see who is talking about your company, and what they are saying to others about it.

Podcasts
Often described as audio blogs, podcasts are audio files that can be downloaded and listened to by Internet users either on a computer or an MP3 player.  Podcasts are increasing in popularity and availability, as many radio stations are now offering segments to listeners who can’t tune in during the broadcast time. Podcasts share some similarities with blogs, such as RSS and an informal tone, but they require more production. To create a podcast, you need a microphone and must know how to record and post your content. 

Vlogs
Vlogs, or video blogs, are similar to text blogs, but instead of creating written content, the “vlogger” creates new videos to post to his or her vlog. As with a written blog, a vlogger can allow viewers to comment on each video. Some bloggers occasionally create a video and post it to their text blog. Barack Obama’s heavy use of the Internet, and vlogging in particular, helped him win the presidential election, and forever changed politics. Like Obama, many vloggers create videos and upload them straight to YouTube, with a direct link to their own blog or vlog.

Media Sharing Sites
Media sharing sites enable users to upload and share different types of media, such as videos (YouTube), photographs (Flickr), and news. Media sharing sites are not just about sharing media; like all social media sites, they also are about socializing and conversing.

Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites (e.g., MySpace and Facebook) are the most popular form of social media, largely because they enable people to exchange information and content quickly and easily.  These sites provide people with a place to post their own personal profiles and share information and interests with others; it’s like a big party. These sites allow people to invite “friends” into their network, and to expand their personal network to include friends of friends . . . and beyond, unrestrained by geographical distance. 

Wikis
A wiki is a Web page or collection of pages that enables anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify the content. The popular collaborative encyclopedia, Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), uses wikis to create its entries. The idea here is that, over time, as new information is added, scrutinized, edited and re-edited, the quality of each entry will improve.

Forums
Forums and message boards are online “chat rooms” where members can initiate and participate in discussions about certain topics. Pick any topic – say, chocolate lollipops -- and you can bet there is a forum for it. Most forums require visitors to register before they can post new messages, but some allow visitors to participate as “guests.” Many business forums, such as product user forums, are monitored by assigned moderators, who can answer questions and address concerns raised by members.