Is your business up to speed with social media?

There’s no escaping the fact that social media skills are a necessity for a growing business of today.

Social media isn’t a fad - Twitter boasts six million unique monthly visitors, Facebook has 300 million users, 80 percent of employers use Linkedin as a primary tool to find employees, in January alone internet viewers viewed 14.8 billion YouTube videos. In fact, Social Media has overtaken porn as the number one activity on the Web.

Yet this change has happened at speed - Twitter is just three years old. And some businesses are having trouble keeping up.

One of the biggest barriers (according to 43% of companies surveyed by PR Week’s Social Media Survey 09) to incorporating social media into marketing campaigns is simply lack of knowledge.

Yet businesses understand the impact social media is having - 79% say social media will have an impact on connecting with customers in the next year - and 63% acknowledge the impact social media will have on generating sales and revenue. In line with this 41% of companies are shifting funding from other marketing activities or allocating additional funding to social media activities in their business.

And here are 7 reasons why businesses should be getting serious about social media:

Connect with your customers: Your customers are on Facebook and Twitter; get in front of them and converse with them in their space. You can address questions or complaints quickly and openly.

Build your brand: Social media is open and transparent - and shows off the human side of your business. Your customers - and even future employees - get to see what you’re all about.

Keep your finger on the pulse: Social media tools allow you to monitor conversations about your brand, your products, your industry and your competition; and react accordingly.

Part of your SEO strategy: Influence how and where your business is discovered via search as social content can boost links to website content, improving search traffic.

Take on the Goliaths: In social media size doesn’t matter so much; engaging with your community does. Social media tools are not only accessible to any business at low cost, they’re also new - so we’re all learning, even the biggest businesses.

Increase media coverage: A presence in social media will help get you noticed (hopefully for the right reasons) organically, rather than ‘pushing’ your PR.

A source of great leads: Building a community around your brand through the social web increases lead generation, impacting on sales.

Want to know more?

We’ve launched a range of courses including an introduction to social media and blogging for business, with the next course on Dec 8th in Auckland, New Zealand in a computer lab. “Because we’re passionate about helping businesses get up to speed with social media.”

Fiona Powell, a former award winning magazine publisher and editor, is the founder of online network entrepreneurette and blog network flokka - both designed for women in business, and is Chiefette of BusinessBlogSchool and SocialMediaThink - designed to help businesses leverage their social media activities.

The Introduction to Social Media Business Course is held in Auckland on the 8th Dec 2009. For information contact: Fiona@socialmediathink.com Ph 09 629 4306. www.socialmediathink.com.