Corporate Social Media

Some of the more interesting conversations that I have had over the last couple weeks include talking to companies in the multi-level marketing (MLM) space with regards to social media.  On some level, MLM as a business model is the best example of how connected individuals and word of mouth marketing can be successful.  What has really been interesting is discovering that most of these organizations have not spent a great deal of attention trying to understand how they can utilize social media to build and bolster their businesses.

It’s an old business that has been run in a very conservative manner for as long as most people there can remember.  And the reason for it is simple.  They’re making a lot of money doing it the traditional way.

But as social media continues to grow in the mainstream, there is an increasing need to monitor, engage and strategically use those channels to think about brand and new business.  Here are a couple ways that MLMs can do this:

1. Managing corporate brand image – Until now, it has been very difficult to understand what it is that the field salesforce is doing outside of the overall corporate standards and perception.  Sure you can rent out huge convention halls and hold bi-annual meetings to ensure that culture and sales operations are in check, but how can you be sure that the brand is not being distorted.  MLM already has a lot of PR work on its hands, but with more and more people talking about it on the web, there needs to be a way to control the overall brand.  Using a monitoring tool to gauge sentiment and PR can help a MLM make sense of all of the information floating around.  As with any company in the new social media environment, the old PR system no longer applies, and it can make a huge difference to be on the cutting edge of what is effecting brand.
2. Product image and innovation – Besides the overall corporate image, it is also pretty important to understand what people think of their product and what they’d like to see.  At the end of the day, your salesforce can be great, but without a product that people like, there isn’t much point in having the salesforce.  Social media can be huge treasure trove of information detailing what people think about your products, the products of direct competitors and directions that they would like to see you go.  With products reaching consumers in so many non-traditional ways, this is great way to get insight about what they are actually want and think.
3. Growing the salesforce – This is an interesting area, but since a good deal of a company’s salesforce comes from other MLMs, there can be the added benefit here of looking for people in the business already.  Whether they are active on microblogs, message boards or blogs, salepeople are on the lookout for great opportunities.  If you could find great people in this way, there is a high likelihood that they will be easier to acquire and more successful in the overall business.

Traditionally, MLMs have focused on social networks to ensure consumers that their goods are the best out in the market.  As these networks shift to the web and social media, it will be necessary to think of the added benefits that this new medium can bring to an organization.  This will effect so many areas within a MLM organization that it will be imperative to start becoming a part of the social media framework today when companies can still experiment and discover what works best.