Five Benefits Social Media Brings to Product Development

Jessica Clifton, Product Manager
July 7, 2010

Initially considered more of a personal indulgence than a professional asset, social media adoption rates have seen tremendous growth in business sectors over the past few years.

While many professional marketers initially embrace social media simply because its mass appeal cannot be ignored, businesses are growing increasingly aware of the potential social media holds as a cost-effective platform for customer engagement.

Here is a look at some of the ways social media is benefiting the corporate world, including a few real-world examples of how Billian's HealthDATA and sister company Porter Research are employing this new marketing medium to help drive business and product development.

# 1: Real-Time Market Insight
Sales and marketing professionals have never been better positioned to tune into what key buyer markets are abuzz about: What pain points are buyers lamenting? What are they excited about?

Even if social media engagement is not a part of the company's current strategy, at least tune in and play quiet observer. A quick search on Twitter might reveal a few surprises.

# 2: Brand Awareness
With Google search now crawling blogs and Twitter content, marketers have additional channels for bolstering their company's online presence - a real SEO benefit.

Billian's HealthDATA and Porter Research both currently engage in each of these social media outlets, as well as Facebook and LinkedIn, leveraging insight into hot industry topics (see #1 above) to generate relevant, engaging content.

# 3: Virtual Networking
Social media is not just a marketer's tool! Joining the right professional groups on sites like LinkedIn is the virtual equivalent to attending a trade show. Networking opportunities abound!

In addition to participating in personal company blogs, sales reps for both Billian's HealthDATA and Porter Research are also encouraged to jump into discussions with other established thought leaders in the market. Joining in on a discussion started by someone else, and providing valuable feedback in the dialogue equals exposure for both the company and the individual.

# 4: Customer Engagement
Social media is like an electronic soapbox and people are eager to weigh in with opinions - just grab their attention and ask.

Billian's HealthDATA uses a branded LinkedIn Group to petition members for feedback on product development initiatives for the Billian's HealthDATA Portal. This provides easy access to customer and prospect feedback, in a fraction of the time and at virtually no cost.

Porter Research recently even used social media to launch online bulletin board focus groups, aimed at helping other businesses navigate the process of soliciting unbiased customer feedback for clients.

# 5: Internal Communication
Great customer feedback means little if things fall through the cracks internally. Social media is cropping up in business productivity tools - Salesforce Chatter being one example - and this can have a hugely positive impact on managing internal workflow and communication.

Billian's HealthDATA currently utilizes a free social media platform to bring internal sales, marketing and product development teams together in an open forum conducive to round table discussion. This means everybody is on the same page, regardless of the actual location of co-workers.

These are just a few of the ways that social media is transforming business - bringing new depth to customer engagement and bringing marketing full circle from the one-sided email blast back to a real customer dialogue.

With social media analytics tools rapidly evolving, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Companies need to establish a voice that can be heard loud and clear in the social media world in order to not get left behind.

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