Leveraging Social Media to Better Your Business

It surprises me when I talk to people—especially folks in the print service provider community—and they tell me that they are waiting for this whole social media thing to blow over. They see it as a distraction (which, admittedly, it can be) that will likely fade once the new bloom is off it.

Here’s the thing: Social media is not going away. The platforms will probably change and how people engage via social media will evolve, but social media are already as entrenched as any other tool in our communication arsenal. If printers want to stay ahead of their customers’ needs and provide them with 360 degrees of customer service, they better begin to take advantage of this new communication platform.

But why invest in a technology that is difficult to tie directly to an ROI? Because when it comes to social media, there’s more to the story than directly making money. Social media engagement offers the perfect opportunity to control your brand and provide your customers with superior service and support. It provides you a platform to gather a loyal community of followers.

Maintaining a brand and image can be difficult to manage in this age of instant communication; damaging stories can spread around the world in a matter of minutes. By setting up Google alerts, printers can monitor the Internet for any mention of their businesses.