By now most business are realizing the power behind social media, and many of them are ready to jump on board. Even though most companies are taking the initiative to join networking sites, many of them are not utilizing these resources properly. G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Viton wrote an article for Business Week focusing on why social media fails for some businesses and what you need to do for social media to affect your company in a positive way. Many of their points are issues that were discussed in last week's lecture.
The first rule that they address is that companies need to concentrate on an objective—what is the wanted result of employing social media? You then need to measure progress toward that goal. Without focusing on measurable objectives, it's difficult to justify further investment. They claim though that even if something is measured it doesn't mean it matters. "Sure, you can discover that 436,315 young women have commented on your blog posting about the latest in skin care, but if that activity isn't moving the sales needle, it isn't helping you".
The second tip is to check in with the competition who are also using social media. This way they can figure out which form is best for their intended use and develop a strategy. Businesses need to identify the key social media most used by their customers and then evaluate their choices by popularity and how believable the customers think they are. The whole idea of using social media is to restructure how a business views and interacts with it's customers.
The article also includes a case study that demonstrates the topic Maddock and Viton discuss.
The full article can be found at http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/may2009/ca20090526_882141.htm
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