Winning in the world of social media

It's no secret, social networking sites are immensely popular and powerful tools. There are 500 million active users registered on Facebook; almost twice as many as those who watched the most viewed sporting event of last year, the World Cup final. So it's only natural that enterprises want a piece of the action.

There are a number of ways that businesses have attempted to use social media to get attention. Some firms, such as mobile operator GiffGaff, have been innovative in their use of social media, using social networks as a means to provide support and helpdesk services to customers, rather than using call centres. Others have used corporate social media profiles to announce straight-up, no-frills corporate news.

The most popular use for businesses however, is to subtly plug their products and services through social media competitions or campaigns.

This may be effective in the short-term but ultimately any firm attempting to fool its customers in the social media space will come undone. Automotive company Ford spent a reported £37 million on a multi-media campaign called Ford Bold Moves, in which they produced 30 episodes of public relations-driven advertorial, which got little to no attention from the general public. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart and Sony deliberately set out to deceive the public with fake blogs that claimed to be written by customers - they were both found out and reprimanded by marketing associations.

Just nine per cent of consumers are following any brand on social media, according to findings from consumer research firm Shoppercentric, and according to managing director Danielle Pinnington, they're only following the ones that act do not act like corporations in this social sphere.

In this past week, actor Charlie Sheen has set the Guinness World Record for fastest Twitter user to hit one million followers. Maybe he's risen to such prominence for the wrong reasons, but can businesses learn lessons from Sheen's #winning ways?

How can businesses make themselves popular in the world of social media? Well, arguably the best approach is to drop the corporate façade completely, and just actually act socially.

One example is that set by toy manufacturer Lego. The company has created a strong social presence, attracting a community of professionals and hobbyists of all ages involved in the sharing of designs, programming techniques and other ideas associated with Lego. So it seems the secret for businesses is rather than pushing corporate messages, to use social media to give customers what they want.

Social media can also be a valuable way of not just pushing messages to customers, but inviting ideas from them too.

One example is of movie-streaming service Netflix. The firm is offering $1 million to anyone who can come up with a way to substantially improve the accuracy of predictions about how much someone is going to love a movie based on their movie preferences.

Starbucks created a huge hit in 2008 when it launched its My Starbucks Idea scheme, encouraging community members to submit suggestions on how it can improve its service. This has resulted in the firm introducing new schemes, such as the Starbucks VIP card and free coffee for Gold Card members on their birthday.

So even for businesses execs who do not have Sheen's "tiger blood" to help their firm's popularity, there are still ways they can make their brands noticed in the social media space.

Dawinderpal Sahota, Senior Reporter