Of course, the next best thing to an in-person conversation is a phone conversation—and with the advent of mobile devices, it’s become the primary form of business (and often personal) communications over the past few years. But, while those types of exchanges work well for single or small group interactions, they don’t provide a visual element or work well for larger audiences.
Over the years, a number of alternate communications methods have been introduced to businesses to help them get their messages out to a broader base of constituents, including webinars, newsletters and video (such as YouTube). Social media is quickly becoming the de facto way of tying them all together and savvy solution providers have effectively mined this web-based tool to help meet their companies’ goals.
While the jury’s still out on how to best leverage sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook to grow revenue, they can improve a VAR’s search engine optimization (giving more opportunities for prospects to find their website). Social media also provides a variety of ways to share an organization’s messaging, from upcoming events and special promotions, to the latest case studies or daily tips. It’s a canvas that creative marketers use to engage their prospects, clients, and other interested parties—including media.
Social media has a definite value, but few solution providers have a real plan in place to use it effectively. Even a basic schedule, such as a weekly Twitter post or daily LinkedIn update, will help improve the organization’s profile. For solution providers with a dedicated (even part-time) marketing employee, the plan should be more comprehensive and leverage a variety of these “communities” to improve the organization’s demand generation and customer retention programs. The sites identified by experts as most useful for business include:
- Google+
Size doesn’t matter when it comes to social media, as even a one-man (or woman) operation can manage these sites without a lot of effort—and can appear to be a much larger company as a result. Through the use of collaborative tools such as TweetDeck and HootSuite, users can update several sites by entering the information just once, and schedule when posts should publish days (and weeks) ahead of time. That allows solution providers to focus on their service work during the day, and organize their social media pushes during off hours.
While most sites are fairly general, used for both business and personal interests, new options are helping entrepreneurs focus more on their real objectives. A good example is the latest social media outlet—ChannelEyes—which was designed specifically for VARs, MSPs, vendors, distributors and other industry professionals. Billed as “the first free and secure social network built exclusively for the IT, telco, AV and print channels,” the site provides a filtered group of vendor and association news and information feeds. For solution providers, ChannelEyes can serve as a single vendor/distributor program portal, giving them the latest updates from the companies that most affect their business.
Another way to tap into peer best practices and industry insight is to join (or establish) beneficial LinkedIn groups or Facebook pages. These communities may focus on a particular topic or company, or share the latest news or blog posts from a certain media source. As in all social media, membership is free and it’s a good way to keep in tune with the industry and customers (don’t forget to follow clients and connect in their peer communities).
A new era of business communications is underway. For solution providers with a good understanding of how it’s transforming and how to leverage it properly, business success will likely come much easier.
Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.
