Businesses Using Facebook | No Limit

Have you ever spent any time thinking of how viral our world is today? How quickly information is spread? Think about it for a minute and you’ll be amazed. Constantly new technology is coming out that offers another way to receive information. Virgin America is now offering Wifi on its flights! You can buy your own personal Wifi hotspot! Your phone is constantly connected online and to your email! You can monitor your dog while it is in doggy daycare! Our world has come a long way from the typical media outlets of television and newspaper as a way to gather information.

Technology has had a great impact on how we receive information and how fast we receive it. What does this mean for businesses? Consumers interact with your brand on a much more frequent basis and not only interact with your brand, but also learn about your brand when possibly never even experiencing it. Just put your company into Google Alerts and see how many daily mentions of your company there are! What does this mean for you?

Your brand must be a part of the conversation. The days where you could handle customer complaints at the customer service desk are over. Now, you must step into this online space and take a proactive approach to managing your brand. Join Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and blog..find other social networks like Yelp! and YouTube. It’s not just about setting up a Facebook page though, you must actively engage with your consumers and seek their feedback. If a customer has a bad experience, think of ways to compensate them. If a customer is a great spokesperson of your brand, how can you keep them talking? Every single thing that is said about your brand by consumers is a potential word of mouth endorsement and word of mouth endorsements are the most successful PR that your brand can receive.

So engage yourself. Jump on board, but be strategic.

-Posted by Kristen Healey @kristenhealey

Last week at the IFA Convention, I took a very competitive approach to the roundtable discussions. I sat back and waited for my PR firm competition to step in and sell their Social Media strategies. After letting them preach their methods, I chimed in and questioned their approaches. I challenged them to deliver stronger strategies for their clients, especially if those clients play in the arena I support and love: Franchising.

For all of you franchisors who haven’t jumped into the Social Media playground: WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? You are losing out on a prime opportunity to drive not only consumer leads, but franchise leads. When looking for a firm to run your program, I highly recommend that they understand the ins and outs of franchising so that you can utilize the features correctly.

Frankly, you cannot afford not to be connected in this playground.

Just yesterday I had lunch with a good friend who was amazed with Social Media capabilities and what they mean for business owners.

Social Media is not rocket science. It’s quite simple. But, simplicity can be misleading. Simplicity doesn’t mean quick.

In one of the sessions at the IFA Convention, I heard a so-called Social Media expert push franchisors to have their franchisees create Facebook and MySpace pages for their businesses. ARE YOU CRAZY? Consumers are perfectly happy that businesses are crossing into the grey area of personal and business. But they are not perfectly happy when you ignore them in their personal space. Do you really think your franchisees will pay close attention to their sites when they are charged with protecting their life savings that was invested into your concept? NO WAY. They are focused on one thing and one thing only: Money. And making more of it.

Well, Social Media can make money for businesses. That’s been proven. But your franchisees should not be the ambassador for your brand’s consistency. YOU SHOULD.

Social Media for franchising is heating up. Before you do anything, make sure you are doing it right. What is right, though? That’s up to you as the master of your brand to figure out. I can provide advice though – email me at nick@nolimitmediaconsulting.com, not only if you want to work with our company, but also if you need some advice prior to investing into the Social Universe.