A Private Social Network Make Perfect Sense For Companies

Social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Linked In, work great for companies that desire to engage the public and customers to build a brand or increase revenue. Likewise, a company can also grow and become more efficient if it exchanges immediate and direct feedback with its employees and vendors. However, employees, vendors and stakeholders cannot use public social media to air their views, since their postings can be sensitive or could be construed as a breach of confidentiality.

This is where a private social network can step in to help.

How Does Private Social Media Help Companies

Private social media allows globally-situated managers and employees to discuss creative ideas and innovations. Managers can cut through department lines and exchange their work experience. Employee groups can brainstorm over complex issues that require a creative solution. Managers and teams can plan product launches while on the go. All this can be done in the secure confines of a virtual private room that is not open to prying eyes.

Such networks allow small groups with common interests to meet at a secure place and exchange confidential information or make plans to achieve their goals.

Professional organizations can in fact grow their business and networks by working on such sites. For example, the Martindale-Hubble division of Lexis Nexis allows lawyers located around the world to find and network with each other in its members-only private community site. This private community, which is regarded as more powerful than Google in its niche, helps members find and hire specialized legal professionals. Palladium, a company that deals in education, has also tasted success by opening a private community. We can list many other examples, but these will suffice.

People have begun to realize that a niche and deeply focused community can offer greater returns to its members than public social media. Contact is consistent and member engagement is far more informative and rewarding in such communities.

Private networks help fulfilling members’ expectations in a more satisfying way than public networks mainly because the information is deep, relevant, and consistent. Members get their privacy, and they know that the person they are interacting with is serious because he is a like-minded professional. Such networks enable fast decision-making and take collaborations to a completely new level.

To Sum Up

Like it or not, private social networks are here to revolutionize the way business is conducted. This is not to suggest that such networks will benefit at the expense of public social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and the like – both type of networks will co-exist and continue to grow.

Companies and businesses that want to drive deeper engagement with their suppliers or employees, or attend to customers with grievances, will rely on private media. They will continue using the public networks to build an online brand, enhance Page Authority, improve PageRank and increase revenue.