Some of our clients think Linkedin is for people looking for jobs. This is one social media forum I like and I am seeing it differently. It is helping me stay in touch lightly with people I know or have worked with in the past. The nicest thing that happened recently was when a client sent us an endorsement over Linkedin that we didn’t even ask for.
On the bigger picture, as a PR professional, I don’t like the term “social media,” but it does remind us that this forum is for light and social comments. For corporate reputations and brand maintenance, it is important for organizations to consider some use of it in the overall PR strategy. It should be incorporated into branding guidelines. Move detailed coversations to a private place.
Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, etc were originally designed with the individual in mind. These sites seek to facilitate communication between two or more parties in order to, obtain or propagate information. While largely holding a light and informal context, these tools can be adapted to fit whatever the user may need. I like to think of these sites as very large communisty centers filled with thousands of rooms of various sizes and shapes. In each room there resides an individual or set of individuals who hold a given interest. The initial goal of, say… Facebook, was to get those people communicating effectively. But what’s keeping an organization from setting up shop in one of those rooms? “Users” use Facebook and Linkedin to speak to one another and celebrate common interests. These interests often revolve around a given company or product.
Once these users have developed a solid common-interest “network,” then yes… they are then able to mover their interactions to a private place.
However,
Attracting attention to business through consumer-business communication doesn’t always require moving conversations to a private place.
Individuals and companies are able to use features such as Facebook’s “page” option as their webpage(s). These webpages have the option of purchasing or simply existing for the purpose of advertising. Business requires identifying a consumer need and giving the customer what he/she/it needs in an environment that the customer feels comfortable in. Today, that environment is the world of Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. The people are there. The opportunity is there. The question is, how are we, as business minded individuals, going to make our way into these community centers and set up shop.