Social media marketing is a red-hot topic in the business world. For example, the rise in social media tools allows the marketing department direct contact with clients and potential consumers. Companies have invested in the technology tools to make this happen, but these same companies do not have the systems in place to allow colleagues to share important information across business divisions. Experts advise that this lack of infrastructure is a liability as companies compete to respond to more demanding and technologically perceptive customers.
In years past, common wisdom suggests the company culture is the culprit for disjointed communication across different divisions. However, recent evidence suggests that an investment in technology can aid in these previously hindered conversations. Adding social collaboration layers across sales, marketing, and customer services helps all aspects of a business. Rebecca Dye, a social media manager with Internet-based bank First Direct, sums up the value of such collaboration succinctly, stating, “There’s so many hidden stories and gems throughout your business. It’s the guys in customer service that have all those gems, not some body in marketing.”
Social conversations within the business can add to the overall social media marketing strategy. For example, with improved internal communication tools, people on the sales room floor can add feedback from customers, creating a valuable source of information not necessarily available to others either via traditional feedback routes or on external social media platforms.
Today, increasingly, companies stay in regular contact with their customers using tools such as Twitter and Facebook. Companies now must invest in tools to allow colleagues to share information and experiences with each other. Data suggests that social media tools are as an essential component for reaching customers and garnering their feedback. There is now growing consensus that such tools are critical for internal business communication and development.
Source: The Guardian