Social Media will boost Business Influence

Social media networks can boost the level of influence a business has within a market or even impact buyer decisions. The explosion in social networks in recent years means brands like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc are actually driving economic activity through its ability to connect like-minded individuals or business for economic gain. Also these same social networks are championing more human forms of regulation and currency. Influence and reputation, (person to person exchange of information), has become part of the social media economic system and indicates that personal or brand trust will give a business more value than just pure financial transactions.

The availability of social media tools to identify data (profiles,reviews,reputation) and create actionable social media intelligence with deeps insights is disrupting the market and allowing people to make evaluations about companies,products, and even individuals through websites, apps and a wide range of social media platforms.  The whole area of Influence and Reputation management is well understood in the old commercial markets and now this concept is extending its roots into the social networks creating a more personal and social environment in which people to connect. Consequently, businesses that work to boost their influence and reputation in the social exchange of information and user experiences based on soft capital, such as trust, reliability,benefit and reputation are now seeing better business results than those companies focused purely on chasing the money.

For a business to thrive in this the “social media reputation economy” they need for tools to identify who actually has influence and reputation within a market so that they can connect and harnesses for economic good. What market influencers are talking about and why they are talking are top of mind questions being asked by decision makers or buyers. Understanding the why is key to discovering why certain people have influence in a given business content, location and time. Actionable social media intelligence that drills down into influencer reputation and analyses intrinsic values is key to a successful business that can execute actionable social media marketing activities on a global scale.

A key point to note within the social networks is that “reputation can determine the level of influence”. So the first focus is to to build reputation by sharing information, stories, opinions and success in a way that is easy for marketing practitioners to identify and verify. This is key to building your level of influence in the social media reputation economy.  .

The author Brian Solis (What’s the Future of Business) argues that today’s value system in social engagement is based on 5 Vs:

1) Vision (I learn something, I am inspired);

2) Validation (I’m accepted or justified);

3) Vindication (I’m right, cleared);

4) Vulnerability (I’m open); and

5) Vanity (Not egotism, but accidental narcissism. I’m important),

Every business that wants to tap into the power of social media needs to understand that they have to invest time in positive reputation updates, build social relationships and measure social influence levels. For a company investing time in being identified as an influencer and paying attention to what they communicate online will pay dividends in the social media economy. Above all being aware that marketing practitioners have access to tools that drill down into the intrinsic values associated with influence and reputation means that you can rest assured that investing this time will deliver an real return on investment in the growing reputation economy being powered by social media.

One company I recently interacted with is – Connectors Marketplace, they provides actionable social media data to sales and marketing managers. This social media tool enables a business to discover who is talking, what they are talking about and why they are talking. Social media opens up so many opportunities for even a small business to compete on a global scale, influence and reputation can’t be bought, it must be earned and that takes time and effort not money.

Also please read articles on  Social Media Marketing