Social Media is already the largest source of traffic on the Internet. Additionally, a recent survey of European Communication Monitor shows that over the next three years SM are expected to increase by 37% in importance as a PR tool, the largest increase among all other communication channels.

Based on that data, Yannis Gravanis, WOW group’s Sales Director explains why Social Media (SM) presents opportunities -rather than threats- for the modern enterprise.

Consumers are fed up by traditional media and are increasingly turning to SM, which enable them to share experiences and information about products and companies that they find interesting enough to post and comment about.

While many companies have recognized this consumer trend and shifted their interest towards SM, medium and small companies in the world (including Greece) have been  more reluctant so far and haven’t concluded whether SM present more opportunities than threats for their business.

What’s the purpose of Social Media;
SM have this unique ability to serve most PR purposes in quiet a focused manner, but also serve well purposes of marketers, with greater success some times, just like the cases of Dell and Starbucks ( www.engagementdb.com ).

But they have found many other uses in other areas, such as recruiting processes and even education.

One may wonder why are we still at the start line, still hesitating, if such an inexpensive, flexible tool has found so many business applications.
What are we afraid of?

BL Ochman, a well respected blogger in one of his post at www.socialmediatoday.com described the basic reasons that companies delay a favorable decision in utilizing SM:

1. Fear that employees will waste their time in the company’s SM.
2. Consumers that hate the company would hurt the brand.
3. Loss of control of the brand.
4. Cost: SM require a real budget. SM is not a free tool.
5. Fear of potential lawsuits and legal implications.
6. Fear of leaking corporate secrets.

All these questions have their answers, and the big winners are of course those who find solutions and the correct balances.

There have been several cases where SM helped companies fix and overcome issues around problematic, erroneous and even insincere consumer intentions and perceptions, just like Starbucks successfully managed an attack on the brand ( www.stopstarbucks.com ) or Domino’s Pizza ( www.pizzaturnaround.com ) managed to involve the public in the redesign and turnaround of their brand, even our own Greek IKEA operations ( www.facebook.com / ikeagreece ) that managed to handle accusations of unjust price variations on the same product from one country store to another.

Smart companies listen closely when their clients become critical. More often than not, negative consumer comments simply mean that there is need for changes to be made.

The world and Greece -global & local view.
Everyday we hear more and more about SM, and I’m not talking about the people of Silicon Valley, but our own daily lives, here in Athens.
It’s only natural if one considers penetration of SM in Greece: more than 1 in every 4 are active members on Facebook.

During Marketing Week’s 4th Corporate Communication Conference, and Boussias Conferences’ 6th People Management Executive Seminar, we had the honor to elaborate on our own ideas and opinions, but more importantly, had the chance to listen to others’ opinions, and hear about some major initiatives undertaken by companies and colleagues in the utili6th People Management Executive Seminar zation of SM.

Equally satisfying was the private sector’s presence -but more important, that of the public sector- in the recent “Who’s Afraid of Social Media» conference, hosted by the Institute of Communication.

The presence of governmental agencies and Ministries in the SM arena is growing daily. An important step is the advent of the first request for proposal (RFP) with special focus on utilizing SM as a tool of advertising, educating and promoting the work of the Operational Program for Education and Lifelong Learning, of the Ministry of Education.

SM in action from the perspective of Greek executives.
A typical example of the potential and intensity of SM as a communication tool, is the change that took place in the area of PR since the advent of SM both globally and in Greece.

Even email might cease to exist as we know it sooner than you think. At least that’s what Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook speculates:

«Only 11% of teens email each other daly, so even as I can’t imagine the world without it, email is probably going away …” ( relative Video ).

Although we will not rush over to close our email accounts -since it still is the most important business communication tool (in Greece it’s the main reason for using the Internet for 38% of users, in contrast to a 22% that the main reason is social networks – TNS Digital Life 2010) – but certainly in the (near) future, we can see email evolving into a more comprehensive form of communication, perhaps embedded in some social networks (Facebook, has already made announcements related to their new messaging system, which aspires to take over a large volume of casual emailing).

In our effort to understand the Greek reality better and to compare results and trends in international surveys, we have carried on surveys, of which mention some points of interest.

Our involvement in the SM cannot be an unequivocal action or experimental «task force» for a week or a quarter. It should be a long-term strategy (at times, including a well defined exit point), as strategic as the marketing or sales plans, more often than not, with common goals.

It is yet another piece of the puzzle.

“Our research shows …”
In asking our customers and SM followers and participants, “What do you expect as a result of your SM strategy?” most popular answers were (in order of popularity):

1. To create (more) buzz around our products and services.
2. Engage consumers with our brand (engagement).
3. To better comprehend how the consumer perceives our brand.

Of particular interest was the fact that the answer “to bring the consumer to our PoS’ was consistently the least popular. It is evident that SM have yet to convince Greek Marketers, Product and Sales Managers as an effective sales channel.
Several successful efforts, such Dell’s Twitter strategy, where they surpassed $6.5 million sales this year, advocate otherwise. SM can indeed be a strong Sales channel if one wishes to utilize them in such a manner.

Executives responding to our surveys indicated that “if they could ask for anything from us (or their agency) in the SM space” they single handedly pointed to better ROI:

1. More predictable ROI
2. More innovative SM services
3. Mobile applications & games.

Judging by their unanimous decision to request for more tangible ROI, we see that perhaps the “burden” of any delay in the adoption of the SM as a mainstream communication tool in our country is on our shoulders (the agencies) as well.
It is necessary to highlight the feasibility of SM as far as the business perspective is concerned and provide data that will support any decision to invest in this direction. Just like with any other business case, numbers talk…

Finally, to our query to “highlight the most trusted channels for business purposes” respondents confirmed the reputation of the usual suspects.

Finally, opportunity or threat?
Since apparently the issue cannot be exhausted here, I hope I have helped tilt the balance towards “opportunity” or at least underlined some patterns and identified some elementary call to action through which we could make SM less of a threat and more of an opportunity.

To wrap things I’ll speak as a consumer rather than a professional and leave you with one last comment, without any pretense of alarming anyone:

The discussion about your brand in social media is (and will continue to be) alive and kicking, with or without you present.

What you have called “my brand” is being shaped by tweets, likes, countless posts, blogs, videos and user generated content…

Do you sleep tight abstaining from this discussion?

Yannis Gravanis