How do corporations use social networking?
Posted on 30 August 2008 by Russ
By now all the big corporations have realized the huge potential in social networking, and advertising on various social networks. A while ago, I wrote about why businesses large and small should utilize social media and especially blogs. However, I was recently asked why small businesses should devote time and energy to social networking, if corporations do not fully utilize the marketing opportunity. Honestly I had to stall a bit and say, “Uh sure big companies use social networking.” It led me to the ultimate question of How do corporations use social networking?
There is a difference between using FaceBook or MySpace to connect with people and simply purchasing advertisements on these networks. A lot of major corporations do purchase the advertisements, but I was curious to see how well certain corporations were actually using various social media outlets to connect with customers. I decided to sample the top dogs from several different industries. I chose GM, Dell, and Nordstrom for the first sample. I first checked on several key indicators to see if they had blogs and how frequently they were updating them, if they were on Digg, and Del.icio.us and Twitter. I also checked to see if they had MySpace or FaceBook profiles. Although there are only the “top” social media sites, they were a good indicator of who was using what, and how. Here is what I found:
GM uses several blogs, primarily at GM Blogs and GM Next. They also have several Facebook groups supporting individual vehicles and vehicle classes. They also got major points for using Twitter frequently as 38 Del.icio.us bookmarks. I had to dock them a point or two though because they did not seem to have any Digg’s. Overall, GM is utilizing social networking quite well.
Dell also utilizes blogs, far and above the rest. At Direct 2 Dell they actually encourage people to start their own technology blogs. Of course this helps dell generate a ton of good content and free press. Overall I am quite impressed with Dells grasp of the power of blogging. Another key indicator that Dell is actively using social sites it doing a Twitter search for Dell, may of the dell employees have twitter accounts ending with “atdell” which is pretty cool. Dell also seemed to be using Facebook and MySpace, however not to the level I expected them to. They seem to be simply maintaining the status quo in this area. They had no del.icio.us bookmarks and about 22 Digg’s. Lower than I expected.
Last I chose Nordstorm. I was not expecting much, since they are not Tech related, nor do they seem to do a lot of heavy advertising (at least here in the south). They do have a blog called From the Floor which I must say is quite well done and seems to be getting a ton of traffic, its in the top 1,500 of Alexa traffic. They seem to have a lot of Inbound links, which is not too surprising considering how well their pages are written and the awesome photography they use. I was surprised to find nothing for them on FaceBook or MySpace, and was very surprised that they have a Twitter page, however it has no tweets.
So, how can you beat these giants at the Social marketing game? It may be tough unless you yourself are a large corporation with a lot of weight to throw around. However, you can appear to by consistently utilizing these services. If you do not know what to do here is the list. Get a blog first of all, and not at blogspot or wordpress, get your own URL! Then get a Twitter, LinkedIn, FaceBook and MySpace account. Start blogging regularly. Integrate your Twitter feed, FaceBook Updates and links to your Myspace and LinkedIn profiles on your blog. Invite all your colleagues, customers and associates to connect on LinkedIn, FaceBook and MySpace, create groups on all of these accounts for your customers. Then make sure that your contact info is accessible on all of the above. By the way, I can help you with any of this if you have any questions.
Popularity: 59% [?]
Tags | Dell, FaceBook, GM, LinkedIn, MySpace, Nordstorm, Social Media, social networking, Twitter
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Thanks for the mention of GM. I should point out, however, that GM has not created any groups on Facebook. We’d rather join the conversation there. I think it adds more credibility than something we’d create.
Adam Denison
GM Social Media Communications
December 29th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Good post.
All of this withstanding the biggest problem I’m having these days is to get my clients to understand the important of social media in terms of brand building. They still think it’s some kind of novelty that teens are into. I’ve been trying to get people to understand that social media sites are having a huge influence not only in the conversations people are having about a brand, but also on the search results that are coming up.
I recently wrote a post about the tools that people are using to monitor the online space and that clients are still hung up in web analaytics to judge their brands health in the online space, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on it. E-mail me some time!
-Freddie
Digital Strategist / TakeMeToYourLeader.com
January 15th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Invite to all.. Come join our free networking community. Business, dating, friendship and just getting your information out to the largest community. Come have fun at the best online community.
http://tinyurl.com/7p5lug
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Social network marketing is one of our firms specialties and educating businesses who really want to grow their online presence is a priority. The more you you teach and the client understands, the higher their rankings will be…simply because at that point they will be fully engaged in their own social network marketing strategy.
Great post. Really enjoy your conversations.
March 9th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Indeed, if you are a start- up in business or a small business, social networking will definitely be of great help to you. Not only does it help you in terms of marketing, it is one cheap way of advertising too.
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:09 am
Interesting article indeed. Social networking and marketing are really on the up nowadays. Especially using Twitter and Facebook. and corporations really could use this method to market there products. Which is happening in a really good way at the moment.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:46 pm
It’s the only way to go nowadays! Even particular individuals in companies can achieve great exposure and credibility.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:05 am
The demand for Social networking will never get ends. Great info. Thanks
October 6th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
More and more consumers, especially younger ones, just expect interaction with companies big or small like this. I think it is easy to see this is now a requirement for any company.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:36 am
These social networking website can be useful, but they are responsible for damaging many intimate relationships. Businesses can use these tools successfully to make consumers more aware of their products and brands.
January 16th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
I’ve been hearing so much about social networks for business but I’ve found it all to be a bit over my head. It’s certainly interesting though.
February 9th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Not only are business creating profiles and groups on the established social networking giants but there has been a huge increase in companies creating their own custom social networks as a place for their target market to gather and connect.
March 12th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Hi – It’s great to find such topical writing on the Internet as I have been able to discover here. I agree with much of what is written here and I’ll be returning to this website again. Thanks again for posting such great reading material!!
March 14th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Very good post quite helpful blog. We may get back to this site later on to check some of other content. With thanks!
April 23rd, 2010 at 6:27 am
Thanks for sharing.
I see a lot of companies that think they have to participate in the social web and actually copy their corporate language 1:1 into their Twitter/whatever stream.
Please, talk to me as if I was a human being and not another company!
June 2nd, 2010 at 12:00 am
“I decided to sample the top dogs from several different industries.”
Can more?
July 3rd, 2010 at 5:43 am
hah… only in small business
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:18 am
Well companies dont really have much choice these days do they? they have to tap in to this latest technology where everyone is otherwise they’ll just be out of touch. anyway thanks for sharing.
July 29th, 2010 at 11:20 am
yeah i agree with some of the comments, you just have to go with the latest vibe of social technology in order to get in touch with the world.
August 18th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Good information, but I’m surprised you didn’t touch on how many of the larger corporations (like Pepsi for example) are moving away from the mainstream networks are creating their own custom social networks.
September 22nd, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Fed up with getting low amounts of useless traffic for your site? Well i want to share with you a fresh underground tactic that produces myself $900 per day on 100% AUTOPILOT. I could be here all day and going into detail but why dont you simply check their site out? There is really a excellent video that explains everything. So if your seriously interested in producing easy cash this is the site for you. Auto Traffic Avalanche
October 1st, 2010 at 6:15 am
Yes, most of the information is very relevant to the topic but I would have like to have seen more focus on how companies are in immersing themselves in social media more now than ever before and perhaps some thought on the policies needed to have an effective social media strategy/implementation. As risks in social media used by corporations is a major issue.
November 20th, 2010 at 3:47 am
Nowadays Social networking and marketing are on the up.If you are a start- up in business or a small business, social networking will definitely be of great help to you.The demand for Social networking will never get end.
December 12th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
great info. thanks for sharing. places to stay in las vegas
December 14th, 2010 at 3:22 am
The demand for Social networking will never get ends. Because social networking and marketing are on the up nowadays. If you are a start- up in a business, then social networking will not only help you in terms of marketing, but it is one cheap way of advertising also.
December 28th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Nice tips about social networking.Thanks
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:39 am
nice info great efforts thanks for sharing about social networking for bisness
January 18th, 2011 at 1:26 am
Magnificent post. Thank you for publishing this blog. Will definetly come back for more interesting information.
January 21st, 2011 at 6:19 am
Social Networking has become so important now days that people and organizations are bound to use them,whether they like it or not.
January 27th, 2011 at 6:18 am
It is absolutely true that social networking and marketing are on the up nowadays. If you are starting a business, social networking will definitely be a great help to you. The demand for Social networking will never get ends.
January 31st, 2011 at 7:29 am
Social networking has become an important part of our daily life. The number of users is simply growing and the popularity of social networking sites simply does not seem to diminish. The main reason behind it is Marketing and advertising.
February 27th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Day by day the usage of social networking is increasing. So the opportunity of marketing to a large population also become easier. You are absolutely right with your point of view.
March 24th, 2011 at 4:32 am
The demand for Social networking will never get ends. Because social networking and marketing are on the up nowadays. Anyway thanks for the information.
March 28th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
I agree with you. Nowadays, anybody knows about Social Networking. Today most of companies use social networking sites to advertise their business.
April 7th, 2011 at 11:24 pm
I am happy to find so many useful information here in the post, thanks for sharing it here. I hope you will adding more. Keep it up!
April 18th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Helpful information. Lucky me I found your website by chance, and I am surprised why this coincidence didn’t took place earlier! I bookmarked it.
April 27th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Oh the truth is, one of the first ever to benefit from twitter is Zappos during this time along with actor ashton kutcher…
April 29th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
yeah i agree with some of the comments, you just have to go with the latest vibe of social technology in order to get in touch with the world.
April 29th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Good information, but I’m surprised you didn’t touch on how many of the larger corporations (like Pepsi for example) are moving away from the mainstream networks are creating their own custom social networks.
April 29th, 2011 at 10:58 pm
Thanks for the mention of GM. I should point out, however, that GM has not created any groups on Facebook. We’d rather join the conversation there. I think it adds more credibility than something we’d create.
April 29th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
Social network marketing is one of our firms specialties and educating businesses who really want to grow their online presence is a priority. The more you you teach and the client understands, the higher their rankings will be
April 29th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
Well companies dont really have much choice these days do they? they have to tap in to this latest technology where everyone is otherwise they’ll just be out of touch. anyway thanks for sharing.
May 4th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
So this how it goes. Never knew this stuff, I’ve been wondering about this things for a while now.
My blog: Papell Evening Dresses
May 8th, 2011 at 2:14 am
Corporations are more to using linkedin and Facebook pages.
May 10th, 2011 at 9:37 am
your page’s concept is outstanding and i like it. Your discussions are memorable. Please continue this awesome work.
May 12th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
@ Pigmentation cream
I totally agree with you, many companies are now utilizing the social networking media for their promotional and marketing strategies.
My blog: American
Rag Clothing
May 28th, 2011 at 11:53 pm
The information found in this post gives us a great overview and even some ideas from how the companies uses the social networks to promote your products and have new clients. This was an awesome piece of information, something I was looking for to read. Thanks and keep it coming on this level of quality.
June 2nd, 2011 at 6:48 am
Every business entity should never put to waste every opportunity that’s present in the wide social networks today! Look at that, even the big corporations are taking advantage of it!
June 11th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all people you actually recognize what you’re talking approximately! Bookmarked. Please also discuss with my web site =). We may have a hyperlink change contract between us!
July 13th, 2011 at 6:14 am
Here is without doubt a useful website. Do you write good beauty articles daily?
July 15th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Thank you for sharing these information to your followers. I never had an idea that these giant corporations, among others are utilizing the power of social media sites to their advantage. It is good to learn though.
My blog: Max workouts review
August 1st, 2011 at 1:32 am
67. I haven’t checked in here for a while as I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are good quality so I guess I will add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it friend
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:52 am
I don’t really know why corporations waste so much money on facebook ads. In my experience I noticed that Google ads are way more targeted and conversion is much higher. I guess if you are a huge corporation you can afford to waste money.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:17 am
I would love to write and say what a great job you did on this, as you have put a lot of work into it.Unfortunately, I’m not sure how to leave a comment…. I know some more effective hiv information which helps us to improve our knowledge .
August 28th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
It’s perfect time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I want to suggest you some interesting things or advice. Maybe you can write next articles referring to this article. I wish to read more things about it!
August 29th, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Magnificent web site. Plenty of useful information here. I’m sending it to a few friends ans also sharing in delicious. And certainly, thanks for your sweat!
August 30th, 2011 at 12:04 am
Super dzieki!
September 9th, 2011 at 2:40 am
I believe other website proprietors should take this website as an example, very clean and superb user friendly layout.
September 12th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
(You rock! Thank you for allowing me to comment! I love the theme!
September 28th, 2011 at 9:42 am
I agree on how powerful is social media to drive revenues for companies..
December 11th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
I modeled this plugin off of the google directory or The open directory project and how that works is you make a category and then subcategories and then you put the sites in the subcategories. So on the add site form no categories will show up until you have added subcategories and the you would add a site for what ever subcategory you wanted that site to be in. I have a couple requests for a version that allows you to put the sites straight into the categories and not have subcategories. This would be for a smalled directory that didn’t need subcategories. I have started working on it and that version should be done this weekend! Hope that helps!
December 22nd, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Dell don’t use Facebook or myspace because, I believe, their target audience is quite probably B2B, rather than B2C. As a result, twitter and blogs will drive the traffic and bring the Brand awareness they’re looking for.
December 30th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
nice article here, Still looking for free best articles, I hope you posted another useful post again so it will makes the other guys know better than beforethanks!
January 1st, 2012 at 7:43 am
good share, Still looking for free greates articles, I hope you posted more nice articles again so it will makes the other guys know better than beforethank you very much!
January 5th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Very interesting points you have mentioned , thankyou for putting up. “In a great romance, each person plays a part the other really likes.” by Elizabeth Ashley.
January 16th, 2012 at 10:39 am
In some companies, teams have created Facebook groups around their projects to help them get to know their teammates and have a single place to store project documents. Other savvy teams have studied Facebook, and then asked their IT staff to create a similar online space for collaborative work.