Social Media Offers Unlimited Potential For Business Expansion

By Farhana Poniman KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Social media offers unlimited potential for businesses to expand and serves as a platform to engage with customers, said Mindvalley Malaysian-based head of Social Media and Brand Communications, Leanne Beesley. She said customers respond more positively when they are communicating with a company that has a social media presence because they know they are interacting with a person, not just the company. "Things do get messed up at times with social media, for example, when employees play pranks on each other and tweeted something offensive or obscene using the company's twitter account, thinking that it was their personal account," she told Bernama at the Malaysia Social Media Week (MSMW) 2012 here Monday. She said when such a crisis happened, companies should be smart in handling the situation and instead of deleting the tweet, they should explained to the public what had actually happened. "It is not about what they (the company) put in the social media, but rather how the company responds to it," she added. In order to generate new customers, Beesley said companies must understand their customers' demographic background and interests. "To maintain their loyalty, the company must generate creative marketing strategy to engage with them and make them feel involved," she said. MSMW, organised by the Malaysia Social Media Chambers, is a week-long event that starts from Feb 13 to Feb 17 at the Putra World Trade Center (PWTC). The national event includes a two-day conference themed "World Bloggers and Social Media Summit" by speakers from the United States, United Kingdom, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, India and Malaysia. The event features social media centric activities like gadget exhibitions, a photo contest as well as a concert. -- BERNAMA