A recent Social Media Today article attempts to help businesses find the right type of social media to reach their customers. While its intentions are in the right place, showcasing the path of least resistance, the article fails to consider the role of social media ingenuity and how a business could turn its disadvantages into big sales.
The article opens with a smartly designed chart showing readers which social media method is best for their workplace, depending on whether they operate a B2B (Business-to-Business) company or a B2C (Business-to-Consumer) company. Below this chart, each of the seven social media types discussed (blogging, micro-blogging, social networks, video sharing, social bookmarks, video sharing and podcasts) are defined and told what works and doesn’t for B2B and B2C. The story’s advice and logic are very sensible and would undoubtedly help newcomers to social media find a comfortable fit for their organization.
It recommends B2Bs try blogging, since it can be a forum for in-depth information sharing such as industry data that could be spread via this platform. It recommends B2C avoid blogging because it is difficult to make a blog seem like anything but a text-based commercial. The article similarly said there wasn’t much value for B2C companies in mirco-blogging sites like Twitter for much the same reasons as full-scale blogging. Its logic was surprisingly similar for video sharing, social bookmarking, photo sharing and podcasts. These, the article claimed, were great for providing a lot of dry B2B information, but not about creating buzz for a B2C product.
Surprisingly, the article only recommended one form of social media for B2C. The article goes into great detail about how B2Cs can take advantage of social networking sites like Facebook by creating interest in their product and increasing sales through friend recommendations—like modern day word-of-mouth. However, it states that Facebook is too niche-oriented to be much use for B2Bs.
The logic used for these recommendations looks very sound and would undoubtedly help any company better reach its audience.
However, the article distinctly overlooks the role of ingenuity and barrier breaking in advertising. The fact that blogging is best suited for dense B2B information and many B2C products have failed is a perfect reason why a company should attempt to break into this medium. Companies like Dell and Jeep have come off as fresh and exciting by going against the grain and encouraging employees to Tweet about happenings around the Dell office or opening a Flickr account so customers can share their Jeep photos.
Clearly, there is a world of opportunity for social media, no matter what your business. However, there might be some great rewards for those who think of unique ways to use outlets that are not best suited for their product.
Patrick Roland, Feb. 12, 2010
Note: Post not sponsored.
