As a CEO, it seems like a scary proposition to tweet, share on Facebook, or write and maintain a blog with comments. And isn’t that why you hired marketing and pr staff? But recent studies in an article by Sharlyn Lauby for Mashable.com have shown you can create a great deal of value for the company using social media. Following are four ways you can boost your bottom line:
Build marketing and pr buzz: It seems obvious, but sometimes it’s the simple actions that yield the best results. A social media campaign is a great jumping-off point for new product launches. You’ll usually get great quantitative data, but don’t neglect opportunities to engage with the early adopters, and trust agents.
Turn marketing opportunities into sales: Are sales stagnant? Try something different.What do you have to lose? That’s what Original Skateboards did. It focused marketing efforts on producing videos for its own YouTube channel. Sales grew 40% and 80% the first and second year respectively. Profits were up a whopping 432% last year. Now it has the 7th largest subscribed sports channel on YouTube.
Connect with future employees: This seems ridiculous because you have an HR department and you have better things to do. But future employees are key stakeholders in your company’s present and future. Qualified talent is getting harder and more expensive to find. Lower those costs by connecting with college/grad students or conference participants whenever you speak using Twitter. Also because exchanging business cards is so passé.
Engage with customers: Having multiple people at various levels within your organization interacting directly with customers is proven to be invaluable. How much more would it be if you, as CEO, interacted directly with your customers? Quick and attentive communication from the CEO can yield great benefits with regards to customer satisfaction and loyalty.
As we have seen from recent corporate mishandling of crisises all the way up to the CEO, think Toyota and BP, now may be a perfect opportunity to dive into the ocean of the social web. Be patient because your efforts won’t yield a direct rise in sales. With a little time and earnest hard work you can create a following that can boost your company’s reputation and utlimately its bottom line.
