The What, Where, Why & How of Social Networking for Business….. in 8 minutes or less

I participated in a Panel recently for the GBTC in Baltimore Md.  The topic was the ROI of Social Networking for Businesses.  Our presentation time was limited, so I thought I would post my short presentation with a bit more detail… but not much more.  Keep in mind that there are many experts on the topic, and I am not one of them.  I am just a active user who has the luxury of using Social Networks as part of his job.  I also have the role of Group Administrator for several Social Networks, so have access to a different view point above the standard User view point.

“…FaceBook?  I dont get it Brian!  Facebook is for kids…”
(a response from a member to our recent PartnerPoint FaceBook Community Announcement)

My presentation was an attempt to give a bit of value to about 200 business folks on what they should be doing in Social Networking, and what they should expect in return, but in 8 minutes or less.  I broke the presentation down into What, Where, Why, and How sections.

What?
What is Social Networking?  Social Networking is typically defined as two-way online communications between two or more people who share common interests or objectives.

For purposes of explanation, I break down Social Networking into two components:

·         Social Networking – collaboration about non work related topics

·         Professional Networking – collaboration about work topics

(You could argue these definitions for sure, but I will use them for purposes of this presentation.)

Where?
Where does a business looking to explore the value of Social Networking start?  I believe the answer is with FaceBook and LinkedIn.   Facebook is a Social Network, and LinkedIn a Professional Network.  I believe this is the best place to start simply because they seem to have the most momentum with our peers.

Keep in mind that most people do not choose a Network because of the sophistication of the tool set, or because of the appeal of the visual design.  It is usually because of the of the membership. They go where their friends, coworkers, or clients are.

I believe Social and Professional Networks are converging.  Social Networks are trying to become more Professional because they understand that is where the highest revenue potential is. Professional Networks are trying to become more Social because their users are requesting it,  or demanding it by voting with their feet for options with more social components.

This convergence is fun to watch.  Here is an exact quote from a college daughter of one of members.  This member decided to join FaceBook when she got a PartnerPoint invitiation.  Once a member, she uploaded her AIM buddy list and saw that her college daugher was a member, so she sent her a friend request.  Her daughter quickly replied, and I quote:

“please remove yourself from facebook immediately.  seriously mom.  there is no way i am accepting your friend request.  its just creepy.  facebook is not for parents.”
(Full Story HERE :->) 

In fact, you can see this everyday with FaceBook and LinkedIn.  Facebook is quickly adding features for businesses such as Pages,  Ad Serving, and a complete open API for custom Widget Development.  LinkedIn on the other hand is actively adding Social features, such as their Beta Home Page with News updates, the addition of Photos, and their own open API release coming soon.

Why?
So why should I use FaceBook or LinkedIn for my business? In general, my answer is simply because the benefits outweigh the costs.  I don’t think it is likely that any of these networks will drastically change your business tomorrow, nor will they replace your sales and marketing teams.  However, they certainly can add value today, most certainly will add value in a year from now, and cost little to use.

Since the jury is out on how valuable they might be down the road, why not create as large of a footprint as possible within each network so that when the “killer app for business” is created, you are better prepared to leverage it.

Specifically, I believe LinkedIn and Facebook each have one core benefit that you can utilize for your business today.  Their other features and functions are simply fluff in my opinion.  For LinkedIn, it is “Trusted Connections”, and for FaceBook, it is “Viral Marketing”.

LinkedIn – “Trusted Connections”
LinkedIn provides the ability to create and utilize Trusted Connections better than any business tool I have ever seen or used.  It is an incredible feature that can provide immediate value to your firm, and I constantly amazed as the results I see.

A Trusted Connection is simply a connection between you and people you know and trust.  If you need an specialized Attorney for example, but you don’t know of any, you can search your network of friends.  Chance are one of your friends knows one that they trust.  Or, your friends may not, but their friends do, and so on.  In theory, a trusted friend of a friend is a safer bet than an unknown firm found thru Google.

To give you an idea of the scale that LinkedIn has, here is my network as of the day of this post:

So, I have direct access to 2.3 Million people thru my Trusted Connections.  Of all of the people I have desired to connect with and searched for thru LinkedIn, probably 95% have been within my three degree network!  This continues to amazes me.  In other words, thanks to Kevin Bacon, I am already connected to most of the people that I desire to talk to!  Of the 20 or so people I have requested contact with thru my LinkedIn Network to date, all but one have replied almost instantly.  I would argue that had I attempted to contact these individuals (all which were of the “hard to get a hold of” type) directly, I may have heard back from 5% – 10% or so at best.

Another reason I believe the LinkedIn Trusted Connections work so well is:

·         The network is self-policed – members tend to not refer requests from people they don’t know or trust

·         Provides easy research – when a member gets a request from someone, they can simply click on the link of the requester to view his profile.  They can quickly learn more about the person, what their background is, any friends they may have in common, any references they have, or any groups they belong to.

FaceBook – “Viral Marketing”
Facebook doesn’t provide the value to Businesses today that LinkedIn does, but that is simply because our peers are not using it in high numbers yet.  Once that happens, I believe it may exceed LinkedIn’s value for businesses for various reasons and will be an incredible resource.  However we are at least a year away from that day.

This doesn’t mean however that you should ignore Facebook for now.  There is value today, and I believe you should create as large as a footprint now as you can so that when our peers begin to join, you are better positioned to leverage to value and won’t have to play catch up.

The one value unique value that I see Facebook providing to businesses today is its Viral Marketing capabilities.  This is actually something that I didn’t expect when I began to embrace Facebook for our business.

I have only been using FaceBook for about four months or so.  And, the only reason I began to investigate it was because Microsoft bought about 1% of Facebook for $150 Million last year….  This was an eye opener for me, and told me that I had better take a peek and see what is going on.  I have also noticed that a disproportionate percentage of Facebook business users are Microsoft employees, which tells me that there must be a Facebook buzz in the hallways of Redmond.

Everything Facebook does is viral.  I guess this should be expected seeing how they began.  I believe they were a student collaboration platform at universities initially, and you know the root of that culture is knowing what your friends are doing, and letting them know what you are doing, every second of the day and night.

This viral nature is what I think gives Facebook its appeal.  I am fortunate enough to get to use FaceBook and LinkedIn everyday for my work, and I can tell you one thing for sure:  FaceBook is more fun!  LinkedIn may be more valuable now, but FaceBook is just more fun, and I think this will translate long term into more users, more activity, and eventually more networking value for business.

The viral nature of the FaceBook services is also quite interesting from a marketing perspective.  It provides an incredible engine for getting a Brand or Message out quickly.  Everything you do in Facebook has a viral hook of some kind, and this includes adding Widgets [A Widget is simply a custom application that you can develop to hook into the FaceBook Community].

For example, when a user installs a Widget, it automatically prompts them to invite their friends…. and if any of them decide to install it, they are asked to invite their friends…. and so on.

Obviously, your News/Content/Widget/Event/Question has to have value or no will use or forward it on, but if it does, it is quite exciting to watch the viral machine go into action.  Our Microsoft Partner Community Widget had over 1,200 installs in the first 48 hours of our launch, which blew us away based on how few of our peers are actually on FaceBook now.

How?
How specifically should a business use Social Networks today?  Well, here is my recommendations of specific things you should consider doing today to leverage this new form of media.

LinkedIn

·         Create a Profile, and invite “Contacts”

·         Have as many of your team create profiles as are willing – Firms are beginning to use LinkedIn for researching firms, so this is a good way to show the depth of your organization

·         Upgrade one or more key accounts – There are features available to upgraded accounts which can be valuable, such as the ability to contact someone who is not in your network.  I recommend upgrading at least one key account in your organization.  I would upgrade the CEO, or as high as you are able so that you have as much “brand” power when making contacts to others. In other words, a CEO is more likely to respond to another CEO…. I know, it is silly but true.

·         Use LinkedIn to contact key people – When you need to contact someone, search thru LinkedIn and if they are in your Network, send a message thru your trusted connections.  If not, use your upgraded account to send a request.

·         Join any appropriate groups, as this can quickly extend your network to appropriate peers

·         Respect the Network and do not use it for broad-based direct marketing, spamming, or other inappropriate use.

·         Only refer requests from people you know and trust.

FaceBook

·         Create a Profile, and invite “Friends”

·         Have as many of your team create profiles as are willing

·         Create a “Page” for your company or product, and invite “Fans”

·         Create a “Group” if appropriate, and invite “Members”

·         Use the tools provided for Events, Polls, etc.

·         Use Mobile app for photo uploads in real time

·         Build Custom Widgets – Though these require the most work and potentially the most cost, these represent the most business value I believe because these give you complete control of your content, functions, and other aspects of your firms collaboration with your community.