I’m still surprised that so many conversations I have about social media start with an explanation that businesses can use social media in many more ways than just having a Facebook page. That’s not to dismiss Facebook, for many businesses Facebook is a great starting point because so many people use Facebook and increasingly connect and interact with companies on it. But companies should also look at other areas where social media can benefit their business.
Aside from the obvious expansion to other social networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram to promote themselves, businesses should look at how social media can be used in different ways to deliver other benefits or help them solve other business problems. Here are a few other ways that social media can be used by businesses:
Customer service – social media provides a really easy way for customers to ask questions, raise concerns and get answers quickly. There are many tools available to help businesses integrate social media into their existing customer service solutions and another great advantage is that social media potentially offers lower cost than traditional customer service channels such as call centres.