The Social Media universe can be described as the countless electronic platforms that offer ways for people and companies to connect and communicate with others through the internet.
The things that most people associate with using social media can include:
- tweeting a message on Twitter
- posting a video on YouTube
- connecting with a colleague on LinkedIn
- writing a blog post
These platforms are increasingly replacing older ways of communicating. Forget phone calls, and even traditional email has been replaced in some circles by Twitter and Facebook. Its easy to argue the main purpose of the iPhone has little to do with talking on the phone these days and most new models of smart phones are now being built primarily around the users ability to monitor multiple social networks.
The Benefits of Social Media:
The potential benefits of social media are very diverse.
More leads, increased sales, better brand awareness, improved customer service, getting found on Google (Search Engine Optimization) are all very attainable objectives any company can expect to realize through the effective use of social media. Less obvious uses for social media include ways to gain operational efficiencies through better internal communication with and create social networks amongst employees.
For logistics companies these benefits can run deeper that just a general improvement in brand awareness and leads. There are logistics companies already effectively using social media for a number of purposes:
- Carriers are proactively dealing with customer issues and complaints through Facebook and Twitter. FedEx and UPS are two good examples.
- 3PLs are posting loads on Twitter to help find carriers to cover loads and conversely trucking companies are posting the location of equipment looking for loads to haul. Many truckload owner operators are very active on Twitter.
- A variety of logistics companies are engaging potential clients by posting educational and informative content on topics that matter to their customers which drives traffic to their website.
- Other logistics companies are using social media to create social communities built around their core service, bringing together clients and employees together into a virtual conversation.
There are hundreds of social media platforms on the internet. It is a world that is evolving fast, but definitely not going away. Social Media is not about being everywhere and talking to everyone. Its just not realistic to do that.
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