As the economic recovery picks up speed, companies must explore ways in which they can tap into social networking and emerging communication technologies.
Some still may think that social media is just a phase, but it has changed the way the world does business, according to social media professional Sara Meaney, a partner at Milwaukee-based Comet Branding and a panelist at this year’s Northern Trust Economic Trends Breakfast.
In 2011, companies will have to re-evaluate their web presence, incorporate even more advancements in technology and evaluate how everyone with their company is communicating online.
“One thing 2011 is going to bring for sure is the rise of the smart phone for business,” Meaney said. “New technology surrounding mobile devices is going to develop and force even more companies to provide mobile access points for their consumers.”
A Morgan Stanley analyst report indicated that global smart phone unit shipments will outpace the total numbered sales of desktop and laptop PCs combined by 2012.
“If that’s the case, if mobile devices become a consumer’s primary access point to the internet, then businesses need to ramp up their web functionality exponentially,” Meaney said.
That goes beyond simply providing mobile access to a company website, she said.
“It means expanding on mobile commerce, mobile product and service reviews and even thinking about how their employees are communicating online and how that shapes your company’s online reputation,” she said.
A Nielson study indicated that in the United States the number of mobile smart phone users will surpass 150 million during 2011, Meaney said.
“That’s more than 50 percent of the U.S. population,” she added. “And what that indicates is that more and more people will be using a mobile device as their primary access point, which will shift the need for companies to rethink their web strategy.”
Companies are going to need to adapt and they are going to need to do it quickly, Meaney said.
That shift will drive other elements of change that will occur over the next few years, she said.
“If more and more people are going to be accessing the web more frequently and more causally via their mobile phones, then companies need to focus on having input on what those consumers experience online,” Meaney said. “Consumer product and service reviews or even what is being said or how it’s being posted can shape your company’s online reputation, for good or for bad.”
As the year continues, there is going to be an even greater need for companies to first decide, and then implement policies about how people within the company present themselves online, Meaney said.
“This is true for B2B and B2C companies,” she said. “As the web becomes more accessible to more people, the line between an employee’s personal life and his or her online presence within a company becomes blurred. Having a policy in place to address that will alleviate some of the hesitation companies have felt with the use of social networks up until this point.”
According to Meaney, these changes and adaptations will make it even clearer that companies with a social corporate culture will continue to thrive in 2011.
“It’s a sort of corporate Darwinism,” Meaney said. “The opportunities are so great that companies that invest digitally and are social in culture are the ones that are going to not only survive but thrive in this atmosphere. Not everyone is expected to be (the greatest), but those that don’t have a (strong online) presence need to continue to evolve.”
Social companies can engage more with their consumers and are able to embrace the tools available to them. Companies that are already there culturally are going to be able to thrive in this new media landscape if they are committed to it, Meaney said.
“It becomes a difference of surviving and thriving,” she said. “Can a company continue to survive if they don’t have a more aggressive online strategy? Maybe, but the question is how long? It is already becoming increasingly difficult to do so, and I suspect as the trends of smart phone usage and mobile tablets continue to increase it will only become more difficult.”
