BMT 580 01 NCC - Management Systems

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Corporate Use of Social Networks--Tim Eckhardt There are 2 replies:
Timothy Ray Eckhardt Students Author: Timothy Ray Eckhardt, Email: tim.eckhardt@dotfoods.com   Show MyInfo popup for Timothy Ray Eckhardt
Corporate Use of Social Networks--Tim Eckhardt Original post: Tue 10/18/2011 at 10:14 PM

Facebook and all the other social media startup companies are definitely using disruptive technology to run their businesses.  Social networking sites created a whole new way for business to market their products and communicate with their customers.  Formerly electronic communication was limited to the boundaries of email.  The new social networking companies took away those boundaries and created a whole new way to communicate with lots of people at the same time.

The biggest challenges businesses are facing with social media is the astonishing pace at which bad publicity can travel.  One unhappy customer can tell hundreds or thousands of people with a single post.  Those people can forward it as well, and very quickly the whole world is aware of a bad situation.  Businesses try to monitor these sites, but there is no way to monitor all the posts.  Bad publicity travels extremely fast enough by word of mouth, now businesses have to try to keep up social media posts.    

Twitter, Facebook, and My Space are the most popular social networking sites.  All three are extremely different but their characteristics are very much alike.  Social networks allow you to stay connected with many people at once through posts and updates.  The biggest security issues businesses are facing with social networks is knowing who the person is behind the user name.  It could be a competing business trying to make posts to make your business look bad.  They could also be posing to get inside information about customers and business plans.  Businesses must be careful with who is monitoring the social sites for them and make sure they are not divulging too much information about their business.

Many larger businesses are joining the social networking trend and adding their own social networking sites to communicate with internal employees.  By having a live internal social networking site, company updates can be posted on the site instead of having to notify all employees by email.  Sites can be viewed and employees can communicate and learn with employees all over the country. 

 Trying to find ways to generate extra revenue from social networking sites is very challenging and tricky.  Just a rumor about a site beginning to charge usage fees will send users to the other sites.  Social networking sites are extremely popular because they are free to use.  Advertising will always be the main revenue source for these sites, and popularity is the key to gaining the lion’s share of advertising dollars. 

Jeffrey Stone Faculty Author: Jeffrey Stone, Email: jeffrey.stone@williamwoods.edu   Show MyInfo popup for Jeffrey Stone
Re: Corporate Use of Social Networks--Tim Eckhardt Posted: Thu 10/20/2011 at 9:10 PM, in reply to Timothy Ray Eckhardt
Example of two compaines that are exactly the same, but one is succeeding with Facebook while the other is failing.

Pet Shop A has a Facebook Business Page that folks can Like and see Posts. Their Posts are pictures of new animals that have arrived, newly hatched reptiles, pictures of current animals that friends can post funny captions of what the animals might be thinking, etc. People pay attention to the page to know what is going on.

Pet Shop B has a Facebook Page and Twitter account that has the name of the shop but the owner treats it as his personal page. Hardly any of the posts are about the business, some of the posts are political and personal, the friends are both personal friends and customers, and the Twitter account is tied to the Facebook account and posts all Twitter tweets. The owner eats out every meal and the tweets post to the Facebook account. Customers that see the posts have begun de-friend the business and question the shop's prices because it appears they are higher than normal to pay for all the restaurant food.
 
Thoughts?
Timothy Ray Eckhardt Students Author: Timothy Ray Eckhardt, Email: tim.eckhardt@dotfoods.com   Show MyInfo popup for Timothy Ray Eckhardt
Re: Re: Corporate Use of Social Networks--Tim Eckhardt Posted: Fri 10/21/2011 at 2:35 PM, in reply to Jeffrey Stone

Businesses social media sites need to be managed with professionalism.  They are a direct reflection of your business.  As for your example, business A is managing their social networks with professionalism, along with some funny marketing.  It is obvious they enjoy their business and create a laid back atmosphere for their customers.  They are also keeping customers updated on their current inventory of animals and upcoming arrivals.  They are doing a great job of using social media to maket their business.

Business B does not understand the power of social media.   The owner should develop personal social media pages to keep their personal and business lives seperate.  The owner is not being respectful of their customers.  Customers do not want to see or hear where the owner ate at last night.  They came to the page to view animals and possibly shop for some. 
 
Business A is doing everything correct to market and grow their business, while business B is using social media to destroy their business.