Social networks already flood our day to day, which includes our working day. According to a recent report from Learnstuff internet users spend more than 24 hours a month on a social platform. This does not have to be an obstacle to productivity, quite the contrary. Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite highlighted in an article for Forbes some of the benefits of these new channels and how they will improve our way of working in the work environment in the very near future. Among them, highlight some of the aspects in which Social Media will change our way of working in 2018.
Social Media will be a productivity tool in the office. The flexibility and agility that social networks allow to communicate implies a cheap and effective method of internal communication, which will flood our day to day. When doing a market study, Social Media serves as a monitoring tool to detect trends, as well as to launch surveys to customers in order to know their sentiment towards the brand. HR departments already use it to find new candidates, as well as to publicize their job offers. In the commercial area, the new 2.0 channels allow to reach potential customers or strengthen ties with existing ones in a less aggressive way than by telephone or in person. They even save time and costs.
It will be an internal and multi-person communication tool. So far, the usual practice when extending a communication was to send an email, and replicate it to all interested parties. Social networks allow you to create groups and send the same message to everyone at the same time, as well as generate interactions and encourage the sharing of a specific topic or issue. To do this, special attention must be paid to the privacy of the information shared, or to using internal social networks, such as Yammer or Chatter.
Active presence in social networks will be mandatory. It is time for corporate representatives to stop hiding behind a wall of corporatism, to abandon the global brand and act on their own behalf and representation. Users 2.0 demand to know who is behind their brand, Put eyes and mouth to that product that accompanies them daily home. This is a great challenge for companies, who exercise extreme caution when establishing the strategy to be followed for each of their new public partners.
This practice is also extended to employees. It is vitally important nowadays to bring human value to the brand, to show feelings and emotions. It is the best way to empathize with your users, and generate engagement. The strategy in Social Media for this new year can not be reduced to promotions and commercial actions. Brands must be differentiated, have their own personality and behave as such. In this way they will achieve greater acceptance by their audience and loyalty to the audience.
Opening of borders and markets. The target audience of the company is not reduced to its immediate environment. The arrival of the internet has brought down borders, giving way to a globalized world. The actions of the company have greater reach, which can positively impact in notoriety and relevance for the brand, if it is able to develop an effective strategy. Brands should stop thinking locally and act more broadly.
The message stops being generic, to become direct and personal. Social networks allow a high degree of customization and specialization of actions. The communication in this medium can be oriented to a certain public, in a certain channel, with a concrete intention. The power of your effectiveness will depend on the design of your strategy.
