http://businessculture.org/ - Introduction to Social Media use in Business and illustration of a case study of a Bicycle Rental business in Thessaloniki, Greece. Presentation used during a workshop on 4th October 2012 as part of the Passport to Trade 2.0 Project meeting. This highlights the two main uses of social media for business purposes - efficiencies and effectiveness.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Use of Social Media to grow your business Workshop with businesses in Thessaloniki, Greece Dr Aleksej Heinze Salford Business School businessculture.org facebook.com / passporttotrade2 Twitter - #P2T2
Transcript
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Use of Social Media to grow your business
Workshop with businesses in Thessaloniki, Greece
Dr Aleksej HeinzeSalford Business Schoolbusinessculture.org facebook.com/passporttotrade2Twitter - #P2T2
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Overview
What does social media mean for your business? Four main strategies for social media for business growth Case study of Bicycle rental in Thessaloniki
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
What is social media? Is it about Facebook? Is it about Twitter?
It is a way of thinking about communication:
From one way communication to a dialogue From individuals to groups
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Social media in business? Growth through “Efficiencies” – improved speed
and less effort: Internal operations e.g.: Knowledge Management –
company intranet for all internal communications External operations e.g.: Customer support – forums for
question and answer / feedback from your customers Faster response times Cheaper
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Social media in business? Growth through “Effectiveness” – improved value
and impact: Marketing development e.g.: source of communications
and engagement with customers about new products and services development
Sales leads generation e.g.: engagement of happy vocal customers to help with your sales
Creating better value for the customers Making wider impact compared to conventional methods of
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Social Networks Market in Greece
Total Users: Penetration of population:
Penetration of online population:
LinkedIn 435 061 4.05% 8.75%
Facebook 3 850 640 35.82% 77.47%
Source: socialbakers.com/countries/continent-detail/europe/ on 30 th September 2012
Overall population ca.11.3m and Internet population ca 5m
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Top websites in Greece
website social network - Y/N
1 facebook.com Yes
2 google.gr No / Yes (Google +)
3 google.com No / Yes (Google +)
4 youtube.com Yes
5 blogspot.gr Yes
Source: Alexa.com on 30th September 2012
5 (3) out of 5 top websites in Greece are social networks!
Source: socialbakers.com/countries/continent-detail/europe/ on 30th September 2012
Europe Facebook Statistics
Case study – bicycle hire A number of purchases start through online research. Customer is not aware of your business – importance of being on first page of a popular search engine in Greece:
Social network
Social network
Social network
Social network
Case study – bicycle hire Customer is aware of your business – now details of the hire are needed -
Telephone
Location:
Case study – bicycle hire Basic opening times and business description available through Facebook
Case study – bicycle hire For details I am able to contact the company directly whilst logged in my Facebook account so no need to fill in long forms just email
Case study – bicycle hire Follow up links to main website of the business:
Oh NO!Back to search again
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Key lessons
Social media can help in your business growth or survival but it has to have a link to a business objectives
Social media can have four main strategic uses – operations, support, marketing and sales
Social media on its own cannot sustain a business – you need a robust business model to start with
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
What can you do next?
Visit facebook.com/passporttotrade2 to share your stories on the use of social media in your business.
Read www.businessculture.org and future updates which will help to focus your ideas on the use of social media for growth
