How Will The Future Of Social Media Affect Your Business?

It is safe to say that social media is one of the most talked about topics currently in the world and it doesn’t look to be fizzling out anytime soon. Social media platforms have gone from a place to connect with friends and family, to a regular social tool for organizations to utilize and maximize the many properties and capabilities it holds. Technology is advancing at an astonishing rate, and there is no telling what a social media platform will look like or what the functionality of it will be in the future. For an organization like Metroland Media, they are already behind in terms of implementing any kind of social media, so if they do choose to move forward with it, it’s possible for them to enter the social media world at a very different and confusing time. The real question is, will they?

Metroland Media has developed and transformed tremendously over the years due to consumer needs and the progression of technology. Even though community newspapers and other print publications are still widely used across the globe, technology has forced Metroland to switch gears and focus on providing digital products and services as well. Metroland has gone from a print and distribution company to a highly recommended, trusted and reputable all media channel company in just a few years. It was essential for Metroland to develop their digital products and services, otherwise they would not have been able to keep up with the demands of their consumers, competition and the rapidly changing internet. All businesses and individuals rely on some form of technology constantly, therefore organizations are structuring their products and services around it, Metroland is one of these organizations and it was imperative for them to do so. One thing they have yet to implement and capitalize on, is social media. Will they continue to progress and succeed without the use or offering of social media?

Metroland Media does not currently use social media inside the organization or have any form of social media to offer to their customers. Social media implementation has been lightly talked about inside the organization, but the time frame is still undetermined. This could be a major downfall for Metroland, since social media has already made so many drastic changes in just a few years, there is no telling what social media platforms will look like or what the functionality of these platforms will be in the future. To be able to truly understand and utilize the complexity and tools of social media, it will take years of practice, training, professional assistance, copious amounts of money and constant usage. Without the pre-existing understanding of social media and its capabilities, this could put a strain on Metrolands future operations and implementation process.

Even though Metroland has made drastic changes in improving their products, organization, customer satisfaction and overall future performance, their next and only step is developing some form of social media for their customers or for themselves inside the organization. Social media platforms are becoming more used and are changing constantly, they are becoming harder to gauge, understand and maintain. It has been talked about that social media platforms could mesh together and become one platform in the future, they are also looking at creating a more powerful search engine within these platforms. The idea for this is that you would never have to leave your social media platform for anything, you can find all your information in one spot and this could lead to higher usage of these platforms, more products and services offered and then potentially leading to more advertising and more expensive advertising. These are the types of ideas and concepts the future holds for social media, so now is the time for Metroland to become familiar with it and understand it.

Being one of the media industry leaders in Canada, implementing some form of social media is next on their priority list. Metroland does their homework and that is why I do foresee them having some type of social media product or service for their customers. Even though social media could improve all aspects of their organization, especially their supply chain, reducing cost, improving their products, quality, and speed, Metroland will still mainly focus on providing marketing and advertising channels as well as professional marketing expertise. Metroland focuses on providing an audience, reach, targeting capabilities and various platforms to advertise and market on. Providing another channel with a larger reach and audience, an international market and more advanced targeting capabilities, will do nothing but improve their organization’s performance and customer satisfaction.

If Metroland Media does choose to implement some form of social media in the future, they would improve greatly in their communication channels. Their customers would be able to receive one on one assistance through the instant chat applications within the platforms and be able to connect with one of the many marketing and advertising representatives within Metroland. This means customer complaints are dealt with faster, their questions are being answered immediately and overall communication would multiply. Overall customer satisfaction and retention would increase as well as their overall brand reputation. Being able to communicate effectively and efficiently is something all organizations could improve on; with social media it’s achievable.

Lessons for Others

Metroland has many options and different qualities they could bring to the social media world. There is one company that comes to mind with which Metroland can learn immensely from, Hootsuite. They offer a platform that helps you better manage your social media efforts and time, provide you with the ability to schedule future posts, content curation, analytics, monitoring, contests and much more. Metroland could use this concept and branch off into something quite unique and special, Hootsuite is a small organization with tons of innovation and social media expertise. Metroland could learn a lot from a company like Hootsuite, they have developed such a powerful platform all originating from social media’s current tools and applications, it just goes to show that there is truly an endless amount of opportunities with social media.

With over 2.3 billion social media users in the world, social media is in Metrolands future. How and when they will use it is still undetermined, but the many ways they could use it within the organization and offer it to their customers is not. We know that social media has significant benefits to supply chain, metrics, marketing, development and design, customer engagement, employee involvement and an extensive list of other benefits. It is one of the most talked about and used platforms on the planet and is known to improve business performance with proper application and management. If technology keeps advancing at the rate it is, social media platforms could be the future of the internet, forcing all businesses to use it. Metroland is a large organization, they follow strict rules and well managed guidelines, maybe this is why we haven’t seen the use of social media come from them yet, maybe soon they will be forced to.

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

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