How social media networking can work for your company
I was asked this week to explain how social media can help a company and what the benefits of networking through these channels are.
Firstly it would be a prudent thing to explain that using social networks is the best way to rapidly expand and boost a company’s profile in a very cost effective way. Unlike traditional push advertising in which a piece of DM (Direct mail) or a half page advert in a glossy magazine, which would be seen once and either cast to the bin or the page turned and your very expensive add not being seen again, the information you send out to these networks will not only be there for a very long time. (Be mindful of what you write!), but shared through network users and groups.
So, how does networking work and how can it be of benefit?
Simply put its Reed’s Law.
“The utility of large networks, particularly Social Networks, can scale exponentially with the size of the network”
2n – N – 1
The reason for this is that the number of possible sub-groups of network participants is , where N is the number of participants.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed’s_law
Here’s a simple example:
Imagine this; you have a chess board, place 2 people on the first square and start a conversation, place 4 people on the second square and take that conversation on – you now have an expanding network – Place 8 on the third square and the network expands further as does the conversations… You get the idea. It’s a progression based on 2n.
If you want to read more then I highly recommend you buy the Long Tail by Chris Anderson – In fact I’ve just checked and he’s update the book to this one: The Longer Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Longer-Long-Tail-Creating-Unlimited/dp/1847940366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280921168&sr=8-1
(And that’s not an affiliate link.)
In short, networks expand the conversations you as a business –or an individual – engage in and the more a conversation expands the more you profile is boosted, the brand awareness you have out there and ultimately the more leads you get into your sales funnel.
And for a final quote:
“These conversation are going to occur whether you like it or not. Do you want to be a part of that or not?
My argument is you absolutely do! You can be a better company by being part of that conversation.”
Michael Dell
Business Week, Oct 2007
Best wishes and untill next week
Mike
