British Businesses Getting More Social With Consumers
Social media is no longer a privilege for businesses, and it’s no longer something only large businesses or only businesses in the U.S. use; social media is a must for each and every business, worldwide.
Back in 2011, a KPMG survey found that the UK is lagging a bit when it comes to social media.
At the time, more than 80% of businesses in China were using social media but only 43% of businesses in the UK were using it. The UK soon realized that in order to stay competitive on a global scale, they were going to have to step it up by means of social media.
Why social media?
A new eMarketer report found that 1.73 billion people are using social media worldwide. This number is expected to increase to over 2.5 billion by the year 2017. So what does that mean? Basically, almost everyone who has access to the internet is using or will be using social media.
Businesses are using forms of social media to market their business, grow brand awareness, sell products, gain customers, recruit employees and more. The number one social media network worldwide is Facebook, followed by Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. Company blogs are also gaining awareness, and high-quality photos (think Pinterest) are making their way into the business world, too.
Stepping up
Aspect Software conducted a survey and found that only 40% of British companies are using social media to engage with customers.
They’re using social media on a broad scale in terms on marketing, but are lacking when it comes to two-way conversations with the customers.
Who’s using social media?
In the UK, companies that are most likely to use social media are PR and advertising firms, followed by tech companies.
Specific companies that are successfully using social media include Cisco, Boeing, IBM and HubSpot.
How to engage customers
As stated above, the UK is falling a bit behind other countries when it comes to engaging customers.
Instead of just using social media as a marketing platform, British companies need to learn to interact with their customers daily.
Ways to do this include responding to customer complaints via social media, sharing news stories their customers may be interested in, and providing quick and efficient responses to customer questions.
Social media has exploded in recent years and if predictions are correct, it won’t be going away anytime soon.
The quicker UK companies can get on board with all forms of social media, the better their chances of success will be.
At a minimum, UK companies should have a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn profile and a Google+ page. The more they’re able to be involved and interact with customers, the better off they’ll be in the long run.
It’s time to get social!
About the Author: Sarah Brooks is a freelance writer living in Glendale, AZ. She writes on financial software, personal finance, travel and small businesses.
Image Credit: 1.
Posted in Social Networking. Tags: business social media, business social networking, geo targeting
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