Incorporating Social Media Concepts for Small Businesses
Posted by Orion Network Solutions on February 25th, 2016
Many small businesses now use social media for advertising and marketing. Through social media, it will be easier to discover what your customers are looking for. These days, customers are not merely buying products—they are buying a lifestyle. Social media is an excellent tool for telling a story and giving a personality to your brand. But did you know that social media also plays an important role within the organization? Successful small businesses use it to increase productivity, improve communication, and even encourage camaraderie among employees.
The collective term, ‘social media’ is a group of online communication channels that are dedicated to community-based interaction, input, collaboration, and content sharing. Social networking, micro-blogging, forums, wikis, social curation, and social bookmarking are some of the different kinds of social media, with popular examples like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+. For small businesses, video-based collaboration and cross-platform IM clients like Jabber and Spark can be helpful in improving communication between employees. To make the most of these tools, consult with a reputable company that offers IT services and computer support solutions to small and medium business.
A small business can use these communication tools to become more profitable. Instant messaging and video conferencing tools can save time and effort and enable employees to collaborate in real-time to minimize the guesswork and be able to meet their deadlines. Properly implemented social networks will enable a business and its employees to share knowledge in a timely manner, create an effective warning system, connect people and make them more attuned to each other's needs, and training and learning opportunities thrive in the workplace.
Social networking has changed the way small business employees interact, connect, and share information or knowledge with one another. In fact, about 75 percent of small companies are already using social media and about 40 to 60 percent of them have a social network. Social media can help form strategic alliances and business strategies because it brings everyone together in one place, even if it’s impossible to do so physically.
Employees can use social media as a way to collaborate, as social networking encourages personal networks of professional networks of colleagues. Moreover, meeting people through online conversations may help strengthen or create relationships while providing employees with timely information on where to go or who knows what. Social networks can allow employees to share common needs and interests as well as support each other when it comes to problem solving and sharing knowledge.
While social media can be helpful for your small business, there are certain privacy concerns that may put you and your employees at risk. One in five employers relied on social networking sites to look for negative information about potential hires in 2008. Other employers use social media to investigate whether a possible hire has poor communication skills, badmouths former colleagues and employees, posts inaccurate qualifications, and shares inappropriate photographs. Once hired, employees may monitor an employee's social media use on the office computer. For these reasons, it makes sense for both small businesses and employees to be careful what they post or share online.
Sources: https://www.workplacefairness.org/social-network-computer-privacy-workplace
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_concerns_with_social_networking_services#Employment
https://www.nbrii.com/employee-survey-white-papers/social-networks-benefit-employees-and-customers/
http://www.rheingold.com/Associates/onlinenetworks.html
About the Author:
Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.
