Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2010, with a list of the main social networks of the time (Facebook, Twitter, Tuenti and Myspace). Tuenti later shut down its social network, Twitter is now X and Myspace is marginal.
The internet is changing the world of work, the way we do business and certainly marketing strategies, and networking has become a vital need for the growth of our company or business. That’s why any company today needs to know the techniques required to interact effectively in the virtual world.
That said, I should add that networking isn’t based purely on the virtual world but on combining both worlds. Looking on the bright side, this lets us improve our business’s image online, since virtual reality is perceived differently.
Imagine for a moment that we create an exemplary, professional home page with a good slogan and a good portfolio of services, an incredible offer that’s hard to refuse at a terrific price, where you can find our details in our introduction letter, which says: “A company working in sector X in Spain for more than 25 years launches a special offer for its 25th anniversary“.
This message leaves Spain and is received, to give an example, in Mexico. In the eyes of the Mexican customer, my company could be a 1,000-million-euro corporation or a business run out of my garage. As long as we have a good online image, this customer will unconsciously picture a mid-sized company. These are the main advantages of selling online and making ourselves known on the internet.
Above all, we need to be clear about what kind of message we want to send to our online customers, and the only way to achieve that is with a “networking plan” that sets out:
- What position we currently have in the virtual world.
- What position we want to have.
- How much time we want to take to reach it.
- What investment I’m prepared to make to increase my online presence.
The investment is usually minimal when you know what to do or how to do it; it’s another matter if you hire a professional to take care of getting you onto social networks.
When we talk about communicating a message and an image online, we also mean taking part in social networks. They’re all important, although keeping up with all of them at once takes a lot of time, and we’re already getting to know the main ones, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tuenti and Myspace.
Don’t forget the new social networks aimed at a particular group or niche market. Search, ask around and find out whether a social network with high participation has been created for the sector you work in. Today there are social networks specialising in gardening, health, medicine, business and so on.
On the other hand, as a company we need to be strong and innovative, and above all define the benefits we bring our customers. Because of virtual reality and online business, our competition is greater in the virtual world, since it’s easier to enter, so you need to stand out with a clear, loud message, avoiding spam and taking part so much that you become intrusive.
On social networks, just as with word-of-mouth advertising on the street, customers and users punish and reward.
Further reading
- How to attract our first customers to our business
- How to improve your business’s sales in 3 simple steps
- 5 ways to grow our business
- Reasons why a new business fails
Featured image: NZCoaster, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
