Social Networking at its’ best – a case study
beelinebill August 24th, 2009
Social media and social networking have disrupted online collaboration and communications. Make no bones about it, if you have not started using today’s most common social networking tools, I suspect you are getting close to using at least one of them. You may soon have no choice as traditional methods are falling out of favor. From press releases to customer service to complaints it’s just “happening!”
Social Media and Social Networking have been around for a few years with various social networking tools and platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter leading the charge. There are many others including Digg, Plaxo, Zoominfo and Friendfeed. Job applicants are learning the first thing HR departments or hiring managers do is check your profile. This can be devastating to those who allow certain types of info to be posted on their profiles or sites especially in this recession. From a business standpoint Digium is one forward thinking company embracing these tools seriously in all aspects of business. Let’s explore Digium’s use of social media and social networking.
In the past year, tremendous momentum has occurred using these tools for business. How are they being used? Let’s look:
- Tweets: Twitter messages are up to 140 characters in length and each post of called a “tweet”
- Facebook messages: Facebook is used mostly for friends, family, pictures, events, and classmates but business use is emerging
- LinkedIn: historically the most serious business networking site
- Community: As an open source leader, Digium is no stranger to Community where developers, users, friends and customers post everything from questions to technology recommendations. You will see Digium’s John Todd, Asterisk Community Director, posting, answering questions and blogging making sure we address issues in real time. These are posted in online Forums as well as on mailing lists and in email.
- PR: public relations have adopted social media as new methods to do press releases, reach out to press and analysts and marketing pitches
- Recommendations: LinkedIn has become the defacto standard for business connections and posting backgrounds and resumes; job hunting – recruiters can easily find talent they had no access to previously; and colleagues and former colleagues can post recommendations about co-workers and former co-workers.
Consider the fact that personal email has been surpassed by social networks and blogs (Nielson Online, March 2009). Online collaboration has become a fundamental tenet of business’ online personality. We are becoming a web-based society. Just look at the bulleted list above: all are online except email, which is fast becoming web-based as desktop email systems are disappearing. Collaboration is replacing formal business communications, 800-number calls, and public relations! Some examples?
- Customer Service: post a complaint about a company, product, or service and you may get a response within minutes. If you called the 800 number you may be on hold longer than it takes to get a Tweet response.
- Pre-sales: Looking for a new IP PBX? Gateway? Make a post to your followers, and if you have built critical mass you are liable to get half dozen responses from vendors, resellers, consultants or even press members.
- Technical Support: Open source “communities” have been providing these types of platforms for years, but add Twitter, Facebook fan clubs, LinkedIn “groups” and you might get several types of assistance in real time.
- PR: social media releases are taking on a whole new persona; our very own well known Tristan Degenhardt says, “Social Networking releases give plenty of ‘bang for the buck’ and facilitate getting coverage for smaller stories that wouldn’t normally warrant an entire press release, or coverage for ancillary stories related to more major news.” Tristan also feels “social media releases are more participatory- rather than just releasing the news out into the wild, you’ve got more opportunity to have a conversation with readers and followers.”
This is more powerful than a trade rag picking up a release that you’ve paid to distribute and it shows up a month or two later in a magazine. Immediate reaction, a web site click becoming a lead, collaboration between resellers and users, any number of interactive scenarios are enabled using social media.
At Astricon and Digium Asterisk World, we create constant streams of Tweets and several of our team and of our Asterisk community post interesting information which is appreciated by those not able to attend or attendees that may miss something if they don’t know its happening.
Digium has several social networking sites and accounts:
Twitter:
LinkedIn: What is unique? Many of these groups are created by our customers, partners, and enthusiastic Asterisk fans:
- Asterisk Open Source Communications Platform
- Asterisk – A Digium Sponsored Project
- Asterisk Trainers of the World
- Digium Switchvox USA Resellers
- Switchvox Administrators
- The Asterisk Group
- Digium
Facebook: (sampling, there are many of these fan clubs and groups you can join to collaborate)
- Digium, Inc.Products
- Asterisk Products
- Asterisk Technology Product / Service
- Asterisk Technology and Telecommunications Service
We have received customer feedback, suggestions, highly qualified sales leads, and we thoroughly enjoy talking to customers, analysts, press, colleagues and leveraging the ever-changing and evolving social media web world.
We have been at this at Digium for some time now, but if you are just getting started you will need to build a strategy and execution plan as in any business and then continuously refine as we do. You can get all too consumed if not careful but with a steady effort you can build and execute your social media and social networking efforts. Join us at the above locations, we look forward to your participation!
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