Author: Ulrike Meissner
A lively discussion about Facebook, Twitter and Co. at the end of the study week of this year’s CAS International Marketing and Communication in Seattle highlighted the importance of a meaningful integration of Social Media into a company’s communication strategy. Whereas many European companies already use their homepage to convey news and information to their customers, the potential benefit of Social Media channels still remains untapped. Of course entering into Social Media requires full commitment not only from the marketing/communication department, but from the top management as well. Invested budgets in terms of money and time will pay off once the Facebook and Twitter communities have been established. Friends and followers will provide feedback for free while discussing about a company and its products – market research made easy and efficient. In cases of complaints and/or crisis a direct communication without a loss of time can be conducted and, if creating a positive influence on the company’s image, visible for the whole community. There are a lot of blogs and surveys (The wisdom of crowds (PWC), Chatten, Posten, Twittern (PWC), Social Customer Relations – Benefits and Risks) discussing benefits of Social Media online. All of them recommend that no company should miss the opportunity to profit from its customers by giving them a platform to exchange ideas.