How Companies Including Sellers of ERP Software Solutions use Social Media to Promote their market visibility, Products and Services

Every individual who works in a business- from the employee to the managers, customers and business clients- in one way or another also uses social media networking sites like Facebook , Twitter, Myspace or Youtube for private use and personal enjoyment at home or in their spare time. Now the use of social media is also employed for business operations, as well as for providing technical training to their respective customers, business clients and partners (as demonstrated by SAGE and its use of Youtube to provide instructional videos for their erp software solutions to any interested party in the ERP industry).

ERP Software Solutions

The impact of Popular Social Media Sites like Youtube, Facebook , Twitter and Myspace on the ERP industry and the Promotion of ERP Software Solutions (Pt. IV)

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Facebook- Common Strategies Used by Social Media and Vendors of ERP Software Solutions for Self-Promotion and How These can Affect Customer Relations Negatively.

It is unquestionable that nowadays, Facebook has become the most popular social media site of all. This, despite the evident recent problems it has encountered with bugs and viruses (including the privacy and security of accounts which has been compromised and subject to hacking and stealing of the personal information of Facebook subscribers). Myspace has also experienced similar problems by releasing imperfect upgrades of their applications to keep up with competition by Facebook.

This fact reveals another problem for businesses trying to expand their market reach and global presence, one which is well understood by professionals in the ERP industry. It develops when a software vendor releases a product before it has even been tested properly, or when it is still in the early Beta testing stages. This strategy is commonly used in the Internet technology and software industry in order to keep ahead of market competition, or to capture a customer base quickly, before another competitor does first. In the end, this creates major problems for the user or subscriber and signifies, as a result, a potential and inevitable drop in customer loyalty and allegiance.

As mentioned, this is a common issue in the ERP software system industry. Because the relationship between a vendor of erp software solutions and its customers is long-lasting and definitely more enduring, as well as of a different character than that which exists between a vendor of non-software related products in other industries and its consumers, such strategies that focus on eliminating market competition are detrimental to the ERP vendor//customer relationship because they affect negatively customers by alienating them and their business needs.

In the end it is the latter which suffers the consequences of this strategy, if we consider that once a company employs erp software solutions for internal use and for global deployment, its internal organizational and corporate infrastructure is transformed; all company functions run entirely on the use of an ERP online database system, and so the company is completely dependent on it for the proper functioning of all its applications.  Quite simply, the fact remains that if the erp software solutions bought by a customer or business client do not work, the latter’s business and their reputation suffers as a result.  Ultimately, it must be recognized that the quality level of customer assistance through the use of Facebook Twitter, Youtube and Myspace, is magnified considerably for any business which subscribes to these media outlets.

Written by :

pamelarichards