3 Industries That Haven’t Fully Embraced Social Media

Social Media Cafe (Photo credit: Cristiano Betta)

What industries haven’t fully embraced social media?  I can name at least three industries with social media presence but they haven’t fully embraced it.  Embracing means fully interacting with consumers where they are actually providing information, alternatives, customer interaction and actually helping to improve people’s situations.  Not the hard sell of self promotion and products.  Promote sparingly as people look at sites to add value to their life.  So which three industries?

news corporation (Photo credit: gepiblu)

• Newspapers/Print Media – Newspapers are struggling to adapt to the changing environment.  Many print media businesses can’t generate income from social media, they’re using an old business model in a new medium.  Recent announcement of News Corp splitting into publishing and entertainment, job losses at Fairfax Media and other newspapers closing around the world shows you why.  Others like “The Atlantic” are banned form platforms like Reddit for spamming.  However, companies like Axel Springer and New York Times Media Group have seen profits grow through different online strategies.  While “The Huffington Post“, an online newspaper, thrives on social media.

• Financial – The financial sector  also fails in embracing social media.  Most business sites pretend to interact with consumers.  Others ignore customer interaction or make a limited effort to respond to customer service.  However, selling financial products is fine for them.  They’re missing the point.  They need to offer free information or ways to help people get out of debt.  Greater interaction and actually helping people.

English: Graph of social media activities (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

• Healthcare – A sleeping giant where there’s a lack of patient engagement, social media health strategies and digital pharmacovigilance (assessing and understanding the effects of medicine).  Many people use social media to find information on and treatment of issues.  The government, healthcare bodies, businesses and practitioners should be more involved in social media.

The sectors need to understand that social media is the next stage of the business model.  You’re building the next generation of consumers to your brand.  Content and interaction are the keys.   Devising your online strategy to reach people through different platforms and mobile devices is paramount.  Seek ideas from other businesses sites.  What other industries have failed to embrace social media?  Do you have a social media strategy?

About Christopher Seeto

A Brand Enhancer in Communications. I fit naturally with technology, curious about science and avid consumer of news to gain insights. You can follow me on Google+ , LinkedIn , Twitter .