Businesses today are growing more aware of trends in social and business networking to assist them in growing, developing products, services and the advertising to draw consumers to them in ever increasing numbers. Social Networking in Business
Many businesses are using social networking to see what consumers are saying about products and what will likely be purchased by people. Companies such as Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and Sears are using networking sites. Someone can become a fan of Papa John’s on Facebook.com or follow them on Twitter.com and receive discounts on pizza. Pizza Hut has a blog on Twitter for people to make comments and access codes for discounts; there is also a link for the Pizza Hut main site. (Twitter.com/Pizzahut) Sears has a blog on Twitter which shows some of their products and prices. These sites are ways the companies to see what people are saying about their products and can get feedback on what people like and do not like about them.
Companies use internet networking to assist in tracking business flow, consumer comments, and competitor reviews. Some companies are now using Linkedin.com to help each other with questions regarding marketing, legal issues and advertising. There are social business sites for entrepreneurs such as Star.tup.biz and Elygantthings.com. On these sites business owners give each other information to help in getting a business off the ground and keeping it growing. These sites have places a business can share business cards, banners and information of what type of business is being done. Links to the company site can be posted to make access easier for interested parties.
When it comes to employees, IBM has a social media group which assists employees in following guidelines in using social sites. The company has specific rules for posting so no private information is shared nor unseemly items are posted. IBM bloggers are not allowed to share company information. James Snell stated: “The internet
References: Brynko, Barbara. (2009/05), Filtrbox: Tracking Real Time Market News, Information Today, Issue 5, 33 Business Source Premier Gaudin, Sharon, (2009-03-16), Web 2.0 Tools Can Foster Growth In Hard Times, Computerworld, Vol. 43, Issue 11, Pg. 12. Academic Search Premier Learmonth, Michael, (2009/06/08), Taking Online-ad Measurements Beyond the Click, Advertising Age, Vol. 80, Pg 3, Academic Search Premier Mark, Roy (2005-05-16) IBM Urges Employees to Blog With Care, Internetnews.com Internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3505296 Murphy, Samantha, (2009/06), Jumping into the Social Networking Playground, Chain Store Age, Vol. 85, Issue 6, pg 18 Business Source Premier Wiley, DL, (2009/01/01), The Art of Strategic Listening: Find Market Intelligence Through Blogs and Other Social Media, Online, Vol.33. Issue 1, pg. 61, CINAHL