Comment: Monetising social media – conversation is good

 So far this year it seems the hot topic in B2B marketing is social media and how to get the most out of it. Whether that’s how best to use social media to get customer feedback or whether it’s how to generate revenue from this type of engagement, it has surely appeared on the agenda for many forward thinking marketers and agencies alike.

With the likes of Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn, Twitter etc, how can anyone be sure which is the most effective to use?  Even Twitter itself is constantly evolving with people now posting Twitter videos!  With things moving so quickly, it seems the key is to avoid diving in too fast and to try not to do everything – you only have so much time in a day to post updates after all! Look around at how different people use different tools and decide which is most suitable for your business needs (e.g., LinkedIn could be useful for recruitment while Twitter may be better if you have lots to say). You may also want to think about how often you can update your posts and whether you need to invite colleagues to help contribute?

If you’re looking to use social media to generate customer feedback then you may learn from Dell’s experience (see our recent Social Media Guide for a case study) who initially suffered negative feedback online, but turned it around by creating their own forums where users can post requests and suggestions which are genuinely taken on board. It will be important to keep conversation open, but more important still to listen and act on customer comments.

When it comes to monetising social media it may still be too early to know what works and what doesn’t, but what has become apparent is that the most effective way of generating revenue is in the act of engaging in conversation itself. Perhaps the way forward is to consider social media as another channel for communication with clients and prospects – a form of interactive online brand exposure rather than immediate lead generation. Assuming this conversation is positive, prospects will be more likely to use your services and revenue will follow.

A recent blog on the B2B Marketing website sums up what we really know about social media. Here at Sift Media we don’t propose to know all the answers, but we’re certainly keeping our eyes wide open. Conversation within our business communities is flourishing and our campaign solutions for our clients are returning impressive results. Indeed, Vodafone are currently running a successful campaign around our small business forums.

The bottom line is conversation is good! Whatever your objectives social media is presenting opportunities which didn’t exist a few years ago… and no doubt in the future will deliver solutions we’ve not even thought about yet!

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