Real business relationships in the times of social media networks

Real business relationships in the times of social media networks

Harnessing the potential of social media networks to push specific objectives is the target for most organizations during present times. Companies are spending millions of dollars to expand their network on multiple social media platforms. Some of them achieve great success in this endeavour as well but having a long list of connections on your personal or company’s social media handle does not really translate into more business opportunities.

It has been observed that a large number of social media accounts are either fake or bots, which really does nothing more than adding to your number of followers. To curb this menace, social media platforms have started deleting fake profiles. In the last two months, Twitter has deleted over 70 million fake profiles, resulting in a significant drop in the followers of certain profiles.

So, what can you do to get rid of this nuisance and, in turn, use social media networks to establish real business relationships? 

Social media and real relationships

While social media has played a huge role in helping businesses connect with their customers, in most cases, there is no real relationship between the two entities. It is virtually impossible to have a huge number of likes on a single post or millions of retweets from a single tweet unless you are willing to spend a huge sum of money, time, and efforts on it. But even spending huge sums of money on “Push Marketing” strategies on social media might not generate desired results. As per a recent report, out of 77% of businesses using one or more social media networks for marketing, only 48% witness any returns from the strategy. 

Moreover, it would not be an exaggeration to say that social media networks have been stuck in a rut. They are merely allowing individuals or businesses to create their profile, post videos, infographics, pictures, or text content to establish a presence online and try to get as many followers as they can, which eventually turns into “Push Marketing.” It is common sense that someone is following your page or feed because they are interested in the content and desire better interaction. But most social media platforms allow only the exchange of text messages between the page owner and followers. When text-based interaction is slowly becoming a thing of the past, there is a need for a reimagining company-client relationship in the form of Video Networking. 

Video Networking – The future of business networking

Video Marketing has emerged as a popular digital marketing tool in the last decade, with more than 87% of marketing professionals using it to connect with their target audience in 2019. Many marketing professionals also believe that video content improves brand recognition and user engagement. When the potential of video marketing is known to everyone, then why not take the next step in this direction, i.e., moving to Video Networking.

Video Networking is a new concept that is revolutionizing the world of business networking. This strategy revolves around using videos to connect with your social media followers to create meaningful relationships. There are two types of activities that can be undertaken as part of your video networking efforts, i.e, Passive Video Networking and Active Video Networking. 

Passive Video Networking 

Much like video marketing, passive video networking encompasses posting informative pre-recorded videos on your social media handle/profile. These videos could be regarding new products or services being launched, instructions to use existing services or products, answering customer queries, or putting forward your personal thoughts on a particular issue. 

Viewers or followers can watch these videos as per their convenience and post comments regarding their views on the matter being discussed in the video. When a viewer has posted a comment on a video, you can post a reply to the same, thereby starting a real, meaningful interaction instead of just increasing the number of likes or smiling emojis. This way, you can engage more viewers with your company actively. 

Active Video Networking 

This is a relatively underexplored concept but one which possesses huge potential. Herein, successful professionals, business owners, thinkers, writers, and thought leaders participate in a live interaction with the audience. Webinars or online lectures are the most popular applications of active video networking. Viewers can also ask questions or share their thoughts, out of which the expert will respond to a selected few. This way, you can also get to know about the thoughts of other individuals like you and gain some useful insights. But when you are interacting with a large number of people at once, forming real relationships might not be possible. 

That is why individuals are opting for one-on-one interactions with professionals who are leaders in their respective fields. Herein, you can book a session with an expert, paid or unpaid, at his/her convenience. At the designated time, you will be able to interact with him/her and ask any questions that you may have or share your thoughts. When you have undivided attention from that expert, the conversations that you will have will be extremely enriching and thought-provoking. This will not only dissuade any doubts that you may have regarding your actions but also offer you a clear direction towards which you must direct your efforts.

Business relations in the times of “New Normal”

The business world has undergone a tectonic shift due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Work from home and social distancing have become the new normal wherein face to face interaction is now being replaced by one-to-one video calls. Professionals are now preferring to conduct consultations and interactions with their followers and target audience through live video sessions. This offers all the benefits of one-on-one interaction without any risk to both individuals along with the flexibility to attend the session from anywhere. These one-to-one video sessions are now driving entrepreneurship to the next level. They are enabling remotely located entrepreneurs to discuss their problems with experts to give impetus to their ventures and maximise the available growth opportunities 

With every individual on an average watching 32 videos per month, the potential on offer with video marketing is huge. But the benefits offered by active video networking are far superior to passive video networking. So, designing your marketing strategies around one-on-one interaction with the target audience can reap significant advantages for your endeavours.