Gossip Genie volleyball team

Six months today I moved from London to Chicago and a week or so later, I started work at Gossip Genie. I used to work in social media and PR in England and it’s been such an interesting experience working for a U.S. company. I’m learning a lot.

In general, I think the U.S. is miles ahead in terms of understanding how to use social media in the business world. This isn’t surprising – it is, after all, home to some of the world’s most popular social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter, and it’s where blogs were first published.

Reflecting on my personal experience working with small to medium businesses in England,  some business owners were cynical and didn’t think it could impact on ROI. In my opinion, this thought process came from a lack of understanding about how social media works – and some of these business owners didn’t appear to want to know how it worked. There was almost a fear of social media.

I found this frustrating because social media should not be feared by businesses – it’s an amazing marketing opportunity, if used properly. Gossip Genie has taught me how social media can impact a company’s bottom line, especially through finding customers for clients on Twitter by monitoring and partaking in conversations with their target communities.

It’s great to have a way to demonstrate ROI to clients who need to see a direct correlation between our activity and sales generated.

For example, say you’re a travel company that sells cycling holidays – I can guarantee that prospect and current customers are on Twitter now talking about their next cycling holiday. Are you taking advantage of this sales opportunity by involving your company in the conversation?

I have learned many more things at Gossip Genie. A lot of it work related, but I’ve also been introduced to the wonders of working in a dog-friendly office and beach volley, and to the deliciousness of red velvet doughnuts, Cheetos and Sour Patch Kids Candy.