Social Business is

So Much More Than Social

Media

Social business and social media are two concepts that go hand-in-hand, but social business is about so much more than simply engaging with customers on Twitter and Instagram.

In fact, it’s such an important marketing strategy on its own that many companies are building platforms and tools specifically designed to help accomplish a variety of social business tasks.

The market for social business tools is

expected to grow 26% within the

next four years.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Social Media and Social Business: Key Differences

Social media is all about conversations. Whether you’re starting the dialogue or simply responding to customers on social platforms, you’re participating in a fluid and dynamic discussion that’s often customer-led. There’s a lot of value in social media engagement and it’s certainly a major part of an effective marketing strategy.

Social business is the scaffolding that glues your marketing strategies and goals together. Its components include your inbound and outbound marketing, customer service touchpoints, content creation, video and image distribution, and all the tools it takes to get the job done. Social business is the Swiss Army Knife of customer engagement and retention.

How to Bring Social Media and Social Business Together

In order to have effortless social media discussions with your customers, you need a toolset that helps you track and schedule your content. Digital asset and content management tools are the first step in helping you organize your messaging and keep it consistent.

Next, you’ll want to make sure the methods you use to distribute content are optimized for mobile.

“Social media networks have worked tirelessly to optimize social streams for mobile-friendly use so that people can easily click or share content that is interesting or entertaining while browsing through social streams on their handheld devices. Expect similar updates from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks to provide mobile-first social experiences on smartwatches,” notes ScribbleLive’s Gary Parkinson.

All the social business tools in the world won’t make a difference if the content itself isn’t mobile-friendly. There are several ways to meet this challenge, including using mobile plugins on your content distribution platforms, making sure your website includes responsive design elements, and ensuring your videos and images display correctly on mobile devices. Duct Tape Marketing’s John Jantsch put together a great list of tips for making your content mobile-friendly that you won’t want to miss.

Social business and social media are frequently lumped together under the same umbrella but they actually mean very different things.

A social media presence is important to stay competitive in today’s crowded marketplace, but it’s your social business

strategy that will help launch you to the top.