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The use of social networks in the company, January 2020

Social Media Marketing

Digital transformation has far-reaching implications for businesses and the world of work, as well as for society as a whole. This digital revolution is so important that specialists compare it to the birth of printing more than five centuries ago. In this new era, digital channels are multiplying and their uses are increasing. Social networks have become essential communication tools. Organizations today must take advantage of digital opportunities to develop their reputation, their turnover, adapt their corporate culture, and retain their employees. Increasing the visibility of the brand, sharing news, building customer and employee loyalty, recruiting… Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn… present many advantages for the company.

What happens in 5 seconds on the web?

In the digital age, companies can no longer ignore social media marketing strategies. Dissemination of content, promotion of new products/services, social media engages, federates, and makes corporate communication actions viral. The web, which has become social, makes it possible to create a new customer relationship, more rewarding and more intimate. Company employees become influencers, and help promote the brand, make it shine. Business and consumer barriers are falling, leaving room for the sharing of experiences. Greedy for the web and new forms of consumption, thanks to the internet, customers compare, share and recommend a product/service, and this changes marketing, communication, and sales strategies.
Initially confined only to Marketing and Communication departments, social media now play a determining role in many departments of companies, regardless of their size. Customer Services have integrated social networks among the main channels for interacting with their customers, HR Services use networks as incomparable tools to develop the employer brand and attract new candidates. Today, Sales departments fully integrate social media into their sales process

Some remarkable figures and facts

In 2010, the planet had less than a billion people connected to social networks.
At the end of 2017, 4.39 billion Internet users were recorded, of which 3.4 billion were users of social networks, ie 7 times more in 7 years.
In the digital age, companies can no longer ignore social media marketing strategies. Dissemination of content, promotion of new products/services, social media engages, federates, and makes corporate communication actions viral. The web, which has become social, makes it possible to create a new customer relationship, more rewarding and more intimate. Company employees become influencers, and help promote the brand, make it shine
5.115 billion have a mobile subscription; 3.179 billion use social networks on their phones.
More than 2 billion Facebook users in 2017 are registered, 700 million Instagrammers, 500 million are Linkedin, and 328 Twitter.
The number of unique mobile subscribers reached 5.115 billion, an increase of 34% compared to 2016. Of these mobile users, 3.4 billion use social networks on their mobile.
In the top 3 of users’ favorite apps, Facebook is still featured regardless of age. For 18-24-year-olds, Youtube and Snapchat are the two favorites.

Social selling

Social selling is one of the consequences of digital transformation. Social selling is a 100% “Online” approach that consists of using social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) at each stage of the sales process. It’s not just about creating profiles by marketing and sales teams. It is a process of finding, selecting, listening to, and interacting with potential prospects via social media by sales reps. It makes it possible to detect, accelerate and/or develop business.

Changes in purchasing behavior

More than 3 in 4 Internet users are registered on at least one “generalist” social network (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) and 1 in 10 Internet users is a member of Instagram or Snapchat.
In addition, these social users spend around 19% of their browsing time consulting social networks. Which represents about 2 hours a day.
The behavior of prospects and customers has been profoundly disrupted by digital technology. From now on, they consult the information available on the web as well as their own network via social media, to diagnose their problems and find out the appropriate solutions.
Today in B2B, 57% of purchasing decisions are made long before the first contact with a salesperson and 90% of prospects make 50% of their purchase alone. More and more, a buyer researches the internet completely independently during their purchasing decision-making process.
Buyers and decision-makers form an opinion, an opinion, thanks to their research on Google and on social networks. This pre-purchase phase is a more or less long cycle (depending on the size of the purchase, the sector, the type of product/service) of taking information, benchmarking, and sorting before taking the step. During this entire phase, the future buyer will not accept any direct contact with a salesperson. Thus, the advent of digital has unbalanced the commercial relationship in favor of the customer who has taken power.

The rejection of hard prospecting and advertising

The hard prospecting used by telemarketing, emailing and advertising, is mainly focused on interruption and mass by seeking to reach the greatest number of prospects possible in order to maximize the potential returns without considering each individual in his uniqueness. These traditional lead generation actions that aim to reach large targets and not individuals, work less and less because they are perceived as excessively interruptive and intrusive by future customers who no longer want to be solicited by salespeople or disturbed by the advertising.
Faced with these limitations, digital prospecting, which consists of being found by prospects and bringing them to you via the various digital channels, is emerging as the new lever for optimizing commercial efficiency.

Social selling, an adapted response

Social selling provides an effective response to companies that must now find a new form of commercial prospecting, less intrusive and more intelligent. “Social” selling is based on the principle of sharing quality content to the right buyer, at the right time, and in the right context. In this, he opposes prospecting in the hard, which does not incorporate these principles.
By delivering the right content during the autonomous information search phase, the company provides concrete answers that are often appreciated by buyers.
Companies that practice successful social selling have fully understood this mechanism. Rather than simply continuously delivering a self-centered discourse on their product and service offerings, assimilated to self-promotion hated by most buyers, they prefer to attract their prospects by sharing value-added content on their website and on their social networks.

Employee advocacy

Consumers, led by Generation Z, are looking for transparency and authenticity. No more fine speeches. It takes storytelling, commitment, and experience. Make way for micro-influencers. People who share articles and thoughts on their personal accounts, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram… and who engage their entire community behind them.
According to a Nielsen study, 78% of Internet users trust their peers more. “The fact that an individual shares, it humanizes the message,” says Mélanie Corolleur, marketing manager at Brandwatch, a company specializing in the analysis of the online presence of brands. Aware of this change in practices, brands and companies are implementing strategies to encourage their employees to talk about their company on the networks.
Social selling provides an effective response to companies that must now find a new form of commercial prospecting, less intrusive and more intelligent. “Social” selling is based on the principle of sharing quality content to the right buyer, at the right time, and in the right context. In this, he opposes prospecting in the hard, which does not integrate these principles
Employee advocacy is the mechanism by which a company or a brand mobilizes its employees to become its ambassadors not only in their professional life but also sometimes in their everyday life and especially on social networks.

The use of social networks for recruitment

Recruitment and job search have also changed dramatically with digital technology. More and more, recruiters and candidates are investing in social networks to find their future company or the ideal profile.
According to a 2016 APEC study, 91% of recruiters are active on social media and 70% of them plan to increase their social media budget.
Job searches are no longer always done with institutions by submitting CVs but also through clicks on social networks. Recruiters are using it more and more.
These days, it is easier to contact a candidate via their LinkedIn profile than by email or phone. Candidates and recruiters each find their accounts on social networks. The former can expose their background and showcase their skills by making them available to as many people as possible and the latter can draw from a pool of quality talent.
The social networks most used by recruiters and candidates
LinkedIn leads the professional social networks used in France but also around the world. They represent a formidable pool of profiles.
However, the published professional status does not replace the CV but allows the recruiter to identify profiles suited to his needs.
Employee advocacy is the mechanism by which a company or a brand mobilizes its employees to become its ambassadors not only in their professional life but also sometimes in their everyday life and especially on social networks
Facebook and Twitter: the professional social network of the future Facebook, a formidable sourcing tool
Facebook launched the Facebook Jobs feature. It is now possible for people with a Facebook account to notify their profession and if they agree to be contacted by recruiters.
Twitter, on the other hand, is a great tool to promote the employer brand on the one hand and to create a real community of company “followers” on the other. This platform is widely used around the world to disseminate official information but also by companies wishing to highlight certain events. It is also possible to easily hunt profiles on Twitter by entering keywords in the search bar. With the tree-based operation, it is possible to move from one profile to another and from community to community, collecting more and more candidates in the process.

The community manager

It has become necessary to see essential for a good number of structures, to communicate via social networks, to ensure competitive intelligence, and to produce content while developing its e-reputation. The profession of community manager appeared about 8 to 9 years ago to respond in part to these orientations.
The community manager or community animator is one of the emerging web professions which consists in managing and animating a web community. These are the conversational spaces generally hosted within social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even LinkedIn among the main ones. The community manager is thus recognized as an expert in social networks and must therefore master them.

Conclusion

In the current context, a digital culture that makes it possible to adapt to the different present and future systems is essential. The skills of the 21st century are based on the dual mastery of a solid professional culture and carefully thought out, constantly improved gestures.
These days, it is easier to contact a candidate via their LinkedIn profile than by email or phone. Candidates and recruiters each find their accounts on social networks. The former can expose their background and showcase their skills by making them available to as many people as possible and the latter can draw from a pool of quality talent.
These skills are essential for our students to integrate into society and allow young adults to undertake, alone or with others. Today, a recruiter will give preference to a candidate trained in what Anglo-Saxons call Soft Skills because digital technology is currently not able to replace them. The way in which technologies take hold of Hard Skills essentially involves understanding the impact of digital technology and accepting lifelong learning in the workplace. Technologies thus allow everyone to learn throughout their life or “to increase” their capacities.

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