The financial sector is always heralded as being ‘the’ early adopter marketplace, willing to test and deploy the latest and greatest to develop faster transactional processes and data exchanges.
And that’s true no matter how big, or in the case of one local brewery, or how small a business. Just take a read of a recent Bloomberg article on how an entrepreneur grabbed onto the advent of social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter to build up rapport with potential customers, expand its brand name and tap into feedback from loyal customers.
And that’s true no matter how big, or in the case of one local brewery, or how small a business. Just take a read of a recent Bloomberg article on how an entrepreneur grabbed onto the advent of social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter to build up rapport with potential customers, expand its brand name and tap into feedback from loyal customers.
It’s a great example that illustrates how IT and technology know-how can make a huge difference in the business enterprise and why tech professionals, whether toiling in the back-end server rooms or leading project management teams, should constantly keeping thinking of what technology can be brought in, created or developed to spur the bottom line.
As amateur brewer Sam Calagione explains in the article his grassroot marketing approach and social media efforts have been an integral part of growing his business: “Our social media efforts today are the evolution of that ongoing reality,” says Calagione, who is even actively directing people from the company’s home page and through email notes to the company’s Facebook site.
In fact, half of the company’s marketing emphasis is social media.
So, what does this lesson learned offer to IT folks at other companies? An opportunity to be a tech leader in fostering social media tools and applications if it isn’t being done already. It’s an opportunity to be the ‘tech evangelist,’ a term used frequently back in the dotcom days to describe the IT visionary leader.
The brewery right now has 81,000 Facebook fans; a formidable feat given that national Anheuser- Busch’s Budweiser beer page has 400,000 Facebook fans. On the Twitter side, the beer giants have fewer than 2,000 followers, says the article, while the mini local brewery has over 23,000.
So it’s clearly worthwhile for IT teams to sit down and assess their organization’s social networking tools, focus and strategy and see if there’s a similar road to be taken. A small business with 23,000 Twitter followers just proves that social networking is alive and well with consumers and customers and it’s likely no different in the various financial industries.
As amateur brewer Sam Calagione explains in the article his grassroot marketing approach and social media efforts have been an integral part of growing his business: “Our social media efforts today are the evolution of that ongoing reality,” says Calagione, who is even actively directing people from the company’s home page and through email notes to the company’s Facebook site.
In fact, half of the company’s marketing emphasis is social media.
So, what does this lesson learned offer to IT folks at other companies? An opportunity to be a tech leader in fostering social media tools and applications if it isn’t being done already. It’s an opportunity to be the ‘tech evangelist,’ a term used frequently back in the dotcom days to describe the IT visionary leader.
The brewery right now has 81,000 Facebook fans; a formidable feat given that national Anheuser- Busch’s Budweiser beer page has 400,000 Facebook fans. On the Twitter side, the beer giants have fewer than 2,000 followers, says the article, while the mini local brewery has over 23,000.
So it’s clearly worthwhile for IT teams to sit down and assess their organization’s social networking tools, focus and strategy and see if there’s a similar road to be taken. A small business with 23,000 Twitter followers just proves that social networking is alive and well with consumers and customers and it’s likely no different in the various financial industries.
It’s just a matter of someone taking the reins and making it happen.
And hey, don't forget to check out our Facebook page if you're looking for a new opportunity.
For more insight on how to advance your IT career in the finance industry, click here.
For more insight on how to advance your IT career in the finance industry, click here.
By: Judy Mottl
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