Tim Greene wrote an article in the November/December 2011 Industrial + Specialty Printing magazine on The Power of Social Media for Printers. Here are the highlights.
First, if you still believe social media was a passing trend, take these stats in:
- More than 2/3 of Americans have a Facebook account
- 200+ million tweets are sent every day
- LinkedIn has passed the 100 million users mark
But those are personal users, right? Nothing that influences purchase decisions. Wrong.
A survey cited says 50% of users actively seek purchase decision advice and 50% give advice on social media. You can read all of the other numbers, but basically the message is this: businesses and consumers are engaging in social media—and discussing companies, brands, services, products.
So if you’re not, you don’t have an active voice, which means “silence” sums up your strategy. You have no offense, no defense, no game.
More than half of people using social media expect regular communication from companies they engage. And other than the time used by yourself and/or someone in marketing to engage, social media is free.
Next you’ll say, “I don’t know what I would write about.” I’ll leave you with a few great ideas from the article:
- Answer FAQ (frequently asked questions)
- Announce an interesting project
- Write about new technologies
- Welcome new employees
- Celebrate milestones
Oh and for the record, CL&D Digital is actively engaging in social media—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn—and of course, blogging.
