The take up of Facebook has been outstanding to say the least but can it continue. From a Business to Consumer (B2C) viewpoint the statistics make interesting reading but how about Business to Business (B2B). Well according to research by Marta Kagan 41% of B2B companies and 67% of B2C companies have acquired a customer through Facebook. The same research also shows a potential reduction in the use of traditional e-mail which I tend to agree with. It is likely that e-mail will go the way of the fax and be used for more formal communications only.
What interests me is the take up of B2B. Facebook and other platforms provide a resource for businesses to connect with each other in a relatively simple manner and also permit the dissemination of product and service information into news-feeds quickly and efficiently. For most businesses the capability of using instant updates on a social media platform is far less complicated than carrying out the same tasks on their website. There is a problem though with the current B2B scenario. As a small company looking to sell into a larger enterprise, Facebook in particular will be an ineffective approach into this market.
The reason behind this last statement is mainly due to the fact that larger companies block their employees from accessing Facebook. From a technical point of view it is easier to put a blanket ban across an organisation than it is to allow partial access for those departments that may need it. In any major organisation the Procurement and Technical teams should have access along with recruitment. If you’re searching for a small business quite often the top results returned are from the Social Media sites but if they’re blocked then the website will be the default. For a lot of small businesses this does not always show their best side.
The main reason that Facebook is blocked in many organisations is that companies fear that it will distract employees from the business of the day and no work will get done. The secondary reason is that company resources will be used to the detriment of business critical applications. Possibly the most worrying point is that the person accountable for setting the policy does not fully understand the concepts and principles in play and is creating an information management scheme based on out of date practices. The latter is in effect caused by the resistance to change of many large organisations and the person who creates the policy is really stuck between a rock, (usually the Board) and a hard place, (change).
The really is no need to block Facebook, Twitter etc. within an organisation if there is a clear, concise, policy in place. If the organisation has a staff handbook then this is an ideal place for such a policy to be included or even referenced. This is’t the time and place to go into management practice but there does need to be a more balanced view in the UK of how time is spent in the workplace. and to be more outcome focussed, rather than clinging on to the vestiges of presenteeism. There is lot more that could be written on this subject and its impact on corporate culture so watch this space.
So if Facebook and other platforms become un-blocked, so what. Well the hope is that it will provide a level playing field for freelancers and small businesses to compete with larger more slicker enterprises from a marketing perspective. The time and investment for a small business to keep their website current outweighs the benefits, and can turn out to be an expensive white elephant. This is a hope as there are other factors at work, such as preferred suppliers lists and different cultures within countries to small businesses but at least a potential barrier would be removed.
Tags: Business, return on investment, Social Media, Work Practices
