Karri Ojanen Interview – Social Media for Business

Karri Ojanen

Karri Ojanen has worked as an interaction designer, user experience lead, concept designer and information architect as well as a visual designer on three different continents from Europe to the Middle East to North America. Currently, he is a Senior Experience Architect at Organic Inc. in Toronto, Canada. In his blog, Conceptology.org, Karri writes about user experience and interaction design and their role in advertising, social media, and mobile applications. Instead of strings of tactical solutions, he emphasizes the need for a holistic understanding of the increasingly digital world, and talks about a new way of creating advertising, services and communication.

Q1. What are the most important social media platforms at the moment?

Off the top of my head, Twitter and Facebook are my answers to this question. However, for a company wanting to use social media tools effectively in its marketing, it’s important to figure out the best combination of several social media tools and tactics that fit its strategy.

Q2. How do you see Social Media has changed the advertising communication?

People have always been social. We have always been talking about the products we buy, the brands we see with our peers, sharing information and comparing offers. But advertising, in the era of TV, radio and print, was always one way. Now technology has given people the chance to expand the reach of their social activity to hundreds, thousands, potentially millions of other people online. For advertisers used to the old one way communication, it’s a huge challenge.

For those willing to embrace the new technology, it’s a tremendous opportunity. To some companies, it seems that the new two way model is already more natural than others. Advertising agencies need to change their business models in order to succeed in the new world that’s now based on just display advertising anymore. We will see a lot of changes over the next five years, and even more over the next ten – things are just getting started.

Q3. What social media platforms would you recommend to a company that is just starting their online marketing?

First, before picking a particular platform, think of what it is that you want to say to your customers. And why. And also think of you assume your customers are going to react to your message. Think of different scenarios. Then, instead of choosing just one platform, think of the best combination of tools.

Q4. Do you think every company (that has a website) should have a Social Media Strategy? Why?

As I said earlier, we, as people, are social animals – have always been – and now the conversations are reaching further than ever, thanks to technology. Yes, I think every company needs a social media strategy, but it doesn’t mean just online social media – it means having a social service strategy in general.

Q5. How do you see Facebook as a Social Media Marketing tool?

Facebook can offer a good home for special events and product pages, but many companies on Facebook now don’t really use it to its full potential. I recommend always combining the use of Facebook with a couple other tools.

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