In some cases, the benefits of social networking are intangible. For example, it's hard to determine a return on investment (ROI) from having good customer relationships and maintaining an up-to-date online company presence. However, your social networking strategy should deliver the following benefits:
1. Enhanced reputation
Keeping your communication channels open on all social media fronts will make your company appear flexible and attentive. Expert contributions on forums made by company representatives will also enhance your reputation.
2. Improved brand awareness
Your interactions on social networking sites will build awareness of your personal and business brand. It will increase your online visibility and presence, which should drive traffic to your website.
3. Personal development
Smart social networking will keep you up to speed on the latest happenings in your industry, and observing how successful companies handle their online communications will improve your own customer relations skills.
4. Networking with benefits
Successful social networking will bring tangible benefits such as testimonials, links, web traffic and recommendations.
Top networking tips
While social media tools are enjoying a burst of popularity in the business community right now, are companies making the best use of the opportunities they present?
Apparently not. A September 2009 survey of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers by market analysts MarketingProfs found that the marketing tactics most often used on social sites are not necessarily the best ones.
For example, companies using Facebook most commonly used the site to drive traffic to corporate information through status updates and by 'friending' customers. However, what consumer-oriented companies should be doing, according to the survey results, is creating Facebook applications, which proved much more successful as a marketing tool. Less than one-quarter of total respondents created their own Facebook applications.
Not every company has the expertise to develop a Facebook application in-house, but finding a company offering application development services is a cinch, so it is worth considering Facebook applications as part of your social networking strategy.
Another successful Facebook tactic is to create a survey of your 'fans'. Surveys are easy to build and don't require programming skills. They can create a high level of engagement between you and your customers. Both B2B and B2C companies in the Marketing Profs survey reported that surveys - the third most common Facebook marketing tactic - were effective.
And the least successful Facebook marketing tactic of all, according to the study? Buying ads - even targeted ones.
Micro-blogging site Twitter offers a great way to keep in touch with your customers. Typically, companies use Twitter to increase traffic and drive sales by linking to marketing and promotional webpages.
However, B2C users surveyed reported that Twitter is best used as a monitor for PR problems and to contact customers who posted negative comments about their brand online. Surprisingly, only half of companies use Twitter for the former purpose and only 22.4 percent for the latter.
B2B companies reported success using Twitter for brand monitoring and sending invites for in-person events.
And while some experts advise companies using Twitter to time their 'tweets' in order to maximise views, this was not found to be a particularly successful tactic by the Marketing Profs survey.
Twitter is certainly a great platform for sharing business achievements, such as awards and media mentions. But don't neglect the opportunity to gain market intelligence by engaging in dialogue with your customers and asking for their opinions. Simply asking those following you on Twitter "What would you like to see?" can provide a myriad of actionable strategies for your business to consider.
So, to make the most of this social networking tool, think of Twitter as your social networking customer help desk.
A social networking site for professionals, the media, business leaders, and experts in a myriad of industries, LinkedIn is an excellent resource for business networking. Founded in 2002, LinkedIn has more than 22 million registered users in over 150 industries. The site allows registered users to build a list of contact details or "connections" with businesspeople they know and trust - allowing you to network without leaving the office.
LinkedIn can also help improve your company's online visibility and Google PageRank -but keep your profile public. Because it's such a commonly searched business portal, having a public (rather than private) page on LinkedIn increases the chances of your profile appearing high in search engine rankings.
Maximise your LinkedIn experience by including links to your company website, Twitter feed and blog on your profile page.
Like Facebook, LinkedIn allows specialist interest groups to network online. Gaining access to interest groups is a great way to build business relationships, so be sure to set a little time aside every month to see what groups are active in your areas of interest.
Smart networking
Using the opportunities presented by social networking smartly will bring the most benefit to your company. However, don't embrace social networking for the sake of it. Develop a strategy that delivers the best results for your business by deciding which aspects of online networking are best suited to your business.