Marta Kagan, Managing Director, US, for Espresso, posted a great blog July 18th. In which she revealed that this week Facebook will officially reach 500MILLION users worldwide!!!!! Crazy right! Just think of the opportunities there are for businesses with free access to that number of people….£££$$$$£££!lol
But it’s much more than the chance to generate more profit… or at least that’s what I think. Businesses function and flourish on the ability to generate predictable recurrent revenue, right?

It’s not all about that one-off spontaneous purchase! For providers of a service in particular, the path to success is all about your customers!! Gaining loyalty by building relationships with them, understanding their needs or difficulties, helping them to further understand your product and any product advances, treating and rewarding their loyalty and giving them an open forum to express their opinions in a much more relaxed environment!!
Solution… Social Media!!!!!!

Stats Please!!!

Marta fills us in on the fact that when Facebook was first launched in 2004, it reached a few thousand college students… that was it! A year ago that figure stood at 200million!!!!!!
So as the number of facebookers reach the 500mil mark this week, I think we can all see this is one band-wagon worth jumping on!

What caught my eye initially in relation to the Expresso blog, (other than the mad stats) was the point made that so many businesses continue to disregard it’s usefulness, considering it nothing more than an outlet for moody teens!! What is that about??? Seriously who are these people?
I mean why would you totally ignore such an opportunity! I get that social media is not always appropriate for certain businesses and that’s fair enough. My amazement is reserved for those who have suitable business needs and refuse to even evaluate the potential that social media holds, surely that’s not good business sense… or perhaps its simply stubbornness… or a fear of the unknown.
My advice… GET STUCK IN!!

The majority of people online are far from social media experts (myself very much included!!) It’s all about learning as you go along, picking up tips and yes MAKING MISTAKES!
I couldn’t help but pass comment on this article when I saw it, so for you haven’t read it yourself here’s what I had to say in my disbelieving rant!!!lol Enjoy!

My pre-lunch rant…..

“Wow those figures are very impressive and a sign of just how influential ‘social’ media is, and has the power to be! Why people are so ‘anti – the social’ is beyond me….. It’s free, easy to use, provides direct feedback from customers and competitors and gives you a chance to advertise products, services and people, from all strands of life!!
Surely this is an absolute dream for businesses, as we all know how little there is for free in the world of sales and marketing, that can actually make such a direct impact!!!

As for the idea that social media platforms are, not very ‘grown up‘ these are clearly the words echoed by some grumpwho just enjoys being negative and holding a controversial stance, or is afraid to get involved in what is the future, or at the very least undeniable,the present!

Danielle’s Philosophy

I believe we have come full circle with regards interaction in the business sphere……
In the beginning it was all about the travelling salesman, travelling the country generating interest in his product or service, through talking and pitching to the masses in town centres or knocking on doors (i.e. the art of actually talking and building relationships!!!!)

Then when technology started to take over initially we all became much more introverted and office (or bedroom) based! Emails and websites became the voices for products and services, as businesses saw how much money this could save them… but at what cost??? The personal touch that often was the ‘selling point‘, the human interaction and selling of personality, was lost to save pennies…. But what about the old lesson.. speculate to cumulate…?

NOW we’ve regained our voices through social media platforms and are actively using these voices to personalise our brands and introduce the people behind them… The untouchable C.E.O. can be found tweeting about what he’s reading on his lunch break…… pretty cool if you ask me!!!

Perhaps it’s not a case of domination of one style over the other but a combination of the both that works for you! So if that email you sent strikes interest with the recipient…. Or leaves them needing more… as a very proactive company you are able to supply an outlet for immediate feedback, questions and the chance to develop customer relations which I firmly believe is the key to it all! After all what is any business… regardless of the brilliance of the product, without customers!

Maildistiller’s very new to the whole social media world and we admit we’ve a way to go to achieve the same functionality as others, but the point is we’re trying!!:)

I love the idea of being able to build a relationship with our Maildistiller customers in a relaxed forum whereby sales is not the concern but rather customer satisfaction! Building an honest reputation for being approachable, helpful and genuinely concerned about our partners!!!!!

……Finally!

Would love to hear your views on this so shout up! Or better still join us on facebook or follow us on Twitter and help us achieve the potential I believe that these social media platforms hold!

Plus…. I just really like to talk

And a thought to remember… as quoted in the new 2010 film The Social network in relation to Facebook…. You don’t get to 500million friends without making a few enemies…