Reuters published an article yesterday declaring that small businesses were not taking to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, with 86% of the companies surveyed saying they had never used the sites for business purposes full stop.
Let's be honest here, why would they? Whilst the high volume of daily users to these sites makes them a target for anyone looking for sales opportunities, the format just doesn't suit the business model.
Of course, networking, sharing and cross department communications are hugely important to any business but Facebook is not designed for business, it's designed for leisure. Trying to work around this model simply doesn't work. Just look at those Twitter feeds that are constantly filled with 'want a cheap loan? Click here'... Who would follow that? Similarly how would talking about what you're having for lunch help gain business?
As for driving potential customers, I can't think of one company who I've found on a social networking site. If I'm looking for a service I will look in the usual places, I won't go and 'add a friend' or 'become a fan'. I'm a fan of football teams, not insurance companies.
Business needs it's own network, taking key ingredients from these popular social sites and re-working it into a format that works. I believe this is very close. Having the fortune to work with software that is striving to achieve this I have been privy to the advantages of a specifically designed business model. So I really don't think it'll be long before companies leave the pokes and the tweets behind, and get back to doing what they do best, driving sales and communicating business ideas.
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