This social messaging tool can also be a really helpful application for businesses and establishing a brand. It still has the same news-filtering function as the original SkyGrid application, but now you can provide the group you’ve created with information directly regarding your company. Its purpose is to limit “fragmentation,” an inefficiency problem associated with having too many social media platforms. By putting all your social media into one group, it helps keep you up with what’s going on with your company’s most pertinent social media users while keeping them in the loop about your business.
To use the application, go to SkyGrid.com, sign in with your Twitter account, and create a group. You can add as many members as you want (there’s a minimum of 19) and then send an introductory message to all the members. You can also add YouTube videos and share the group on Facebook. The group will then provide you with all relevant tweets, statuses, and videos from the members in the group (you also have the option of picking and choosing which content to display on the live stream) and vice versa. Basically, you are creating a company news-feed that your members can look at, with indirect input from the users. Below is a snapshot of Lady Gaga’s SkyGrid Groups page:
This application can be extremely beneficial for creating your brand. If you’re starting a new promotional campaign, members can check the group for information on the promotion, places to go to participate in the promotion, and other members who are interested in the campaign (the members can use this information for carpooling, comparing products, or just for discussion purposes). If you want to find out if people like your newest product, just do a keyword search in the group to see if any of your members are talking about it, and what they’re saying.
SkyGrid Groups is also great for creating even more specific targets. One problem with technology, especially social media, is that it’s sometimes hard to get location-specific since users come from all over the country to one page. With this application, you can target specific members in one location only, to make your social media more targeted to specific members. For example, Trader Joe’s, a national brand, has region-specific products. If they want to tell followers and fans about their Honey-Wheat Hamburger Buns, but they’re only located in San Diego, CA., they can make the tweet/post specific to only group members in that area.
SkyGrid Groups is a useful social messaging tool to target the people most interested in your business. After all, if they’re not interested, they’ll simply leave the group (but still have the option to follow you on Twitter or “like” you on Facebook). So use the application as a focus group for a new product, a way to figure out what your next business step should be, or simply just to keep your members updated on the newest information regarding your company. And, there’s a SkyGrid Groups iPhone and Android App, so you can check up on your group or update them instantly when you’re away from your computer.
For more information, go to SkyGrid.com and click on the “Groups” tab.
