When
Brian Solis
visits
Creative Summit
in Skellefteå it’s to bring a message about social media that is controversial to many companies. He advocates rebooting your business and a new way of thinking.
Brian Solis is a world leading analyst and lecturer in the field of new media and their effect on companies and business life. His main audience in Skellefteå consisted of people from the gaming industry, media companies and PR agencies. But they are not the only ones who stand to benefit from using social media, he says. Social media is just as important to small business owners, workmen and storeowners. And according to Solis, social media will lay the groundwork for those companies who want to climb the success ladder over the coming years.
The plumber and Twitter
Brian Solis says:
”If I were a plumber I would search Twitter for people in my neighborhood who have posted that they have problems with water and plumbing. Then I would contact them to offer them my help.”
During his years as a source of inspiration in the field of social media and their effect on business, Brian Solis has heard countless stories of small business owners who have found ways of building relationships through social media. As an example, he mentions the bakery that publishes oven temperatures and the types of bread being baked on Twitter. He mentions the woman in New York who, through Youtube videos, has sparked people’s interest in the makeup she has developed for women who suffer from acne.
”They show what active participation in social media can lead to,” says Brian Solis. But he also stresses the importance of knowing why you want to take part in social media, and that empathy and relevance must always be the foundation for both twitter posts and other forms of online communication.
Finding time for social media
Karina Folkesson, regional manager of Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv), participated in Creative Summit and joined InfoTech Umeå for a chat with Brian Solis after the lecture. Many companies are members of Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv), and Folkesson meets entrepreneurs trying to find new opportunities for their operations on a daily basis. Nevertheless, she believes that many of them think twice about finding the time and resources to engage in social media.
Karina Folkesson explains:
”Fifteen percent of our members are single business owners, and the average company has three or four employees. It’s only natural for them to ask themselves if starting a blog or a twitter account is the right way to go.”
Karina Folkesson also stresses that as a business owner you need to be clear about the reasons why you want to use social media.
”This is demonstrated by Brian Solis’ examples. The business owners he mentions have had a clear idea of why they have focused on social media.”
A challenge
Brian Solis’ message during Creative Summit is a challenge to the way that companies communicate as well their entire structure. Solis believes that many companies would most of all like customers to be led directly to the company’s homepage through social media - but that is a dead end. Rather companies need to dare look beyond their own domains and see how they can use Twitter and Facebook, to name a few examples.
When it comes to social media it is wrong to delegate the task to the company’s newest and youngest employees. Rather it is an important task for the whole company, not least the management.
He points out that user activity on Facebook peaks on Saturdays, which raises the question of whether companies should also be active building relationships over the weekends. This is a provocative thought for some in the audience, and Brian Solis must answer questions about a work life in balance and whether companies should start working in shifts.
Karina Folkesson adds:
”That also raises questions about what to do about collective labor agreements and laws.”
It is obvious that Brian Solis wants to affect both company structures and the organization of the labor market with his message about social media. He lays emphasis on the fact that every company must consider itself as a media company. Because it is through social media that new success can be achieved, he summarizes.
