Social networks have become a good business tool that helps improve businesses’ efficiency. It has also been compared with a new, cheap capital source for enterprises.

Social networks can generate an ideal environment, where information can be easily spread out like the virus dissemination. Therefore, it can serve as the most effective marketing tool for businesses, especially small and medium ones with limited financial capability.

High interactions

Tran Van Anh, Director of Long Hoa Company in HCM City, which specializes in exporting farm produce, surfs on “Cho nong san” (farm produce market) website one hour every day to seek partners and place orders.

Cho nong san is a social network where enterprises and farmers can meet and trade farm produce and materials for agricultural production.

Anh said that every time when receiving export orders, she would post the information about the products she wants on the website, including the volume, types and specifications, so as to look for the partners capable enough to satisfy the requirements.

Replies come just after half an hour after the information is posted. Anh can choose the most suitable partners among the replies. 

“I do not have to spend money on advertisements, while I can connect quickly with partners and have high interactions with them. It’s clear that the transaction method is much better than familiar ones, such as telephone, email and fax,” Anh said.

The Gioi Di Dong, a big mobile phone distributor, has launched Facebook Shop service which follows Facebook model. The information about mobile phone products, from images, ad video clips to specifications has been updated regularly, while the list of products available has been displayed in a friendly mode which helps consumers look for wanted products easily.

Not only having generated a social network website, it has also had “cong dong” (community) column, where people can offer suggestions, exchange views and comment about products. The comments can show which products sell well and what consumers prefer, which allows the company to adjust its business strategy. The high interaction of social networks could be seen as an effective tool that brings more clients to The Gioi Di Dong. In 2011, the business through social networks alone brought 10 percent of the company’s profits.

Nguyen Ngoc Kinh Luan, PR Manager of Dutch Lady Dairy Company, said that the company not only introduced the new product Yomost on televisions, but also created a playing field on Zing Me, a social network. 

Since Yo products are designed for the youth, the company organized a competition on taking pictures with Yo. The pictures taken by young clients can be posted on the website for people to choose the best and most attractive ones. The campaign then helped created the communities of Yo products’ fans, while the company did not have to spend too much time and money.

Luan said that it is not too costly to do business on social networks, while it is easy to measure the efficiency of the business.

The new source of capital for businesses

Businesses have realized that it’s cheaper, quicker and cheaper to advertise products, services or even scientific research works on social networks than on print or e-papers. 

A survey of comScore in Vietnam showed that social networks had the coverage of 66 percent in 2011, much higher than 35 percent in 2009. Doing marketing with social networks has become a growing tendency with its outstanding advantages in compared with traditional channels.

Source: DDDN/ VNN