S.M.M business are now springing up all over the place these days and they are informing anyone that will listen about how extremely essential social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your business however, for the typical little to medium sized company, does marketing to social networks actually live up to all the buzz? Social media marketing companies are all too happy to point out the positives of social media like how lots of people utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent out last year and how many people view YouTube videos and so on but are you getting the full photo? Being the research nut that I am, I chose to take a good appearance into SMM in regard to selling to see if it really worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them?
As a web designer I was constantly (and now progressively) confronted with a number of social networking challenges when potential clients would state that having a website sounds excellent however they had a Facebook service page and had actually been informed by various sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their needs it became quite clear that those potential customers didn't really understand why they needed social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They just desired it. For little and medium sized company I always advised developing a quality website over any type of social network, why? Well it's easy really since social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not company media and service networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). I know that sounds basic but it's true and the stats back it up. The reality is that social media marketing fails to tell you that Facebook is a social media not an online search engine and despite the variety of Facebook users and Google users being around the exact same, people do not use Facebook in the same way that they utilize a search engine like Google (which has around half the online search engine market), Yahoo and Bing to look for service or items. They use it to keep in touch with family and friends or for news and entertainment. In a recent research study done by the IBM Institute for Organisation Value around 55% of all social media users specified that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and only around 23% in fact purposefully use social media to communicate with brands. Now out of all the people who do use social media and who do engage with brand names whether purposefully or not, the majority (66%) say they have to feel a company is communicating truthfully before they will connect.
So how do you utilize social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?
Well first of all I would say that having a well enhanced website is still going to bring you far more company that social media in the majority of cases especially if you are a small to medium sized local service due to the fact that far more people are going to type in "hairdresser Port Macquarie" into a search engine like Google, Yahoo and Bing than they ever will on any Social Media Website and if you do not have a site you're missing out on out on all of that potential business. Despite all the (not so great) stats I still think it is still an excellent concept for business to use social media just not in the exact same way that a lot of SMM experts are today, Why? Is it in a Social Media Marketing business's finest interest to talk social networks up?
One of the greatest issues organisation face with social networks and SMM is understanding. The main factor a lot of individuals provide for communicating with brands or company on social media is to receive discounts, yet the brands and business themselves believe the primary factor individuals engage with them on social media is to discover about brand-new products. Many companies believe social media will increase advocacy, but only 38 % of customers concur.
There were some excellent efforts shown in the IBM study of business that had actually gotten some sort of a handle on how to utilize social media to their benefit, keeping in mind that when asked what they do when they connect with organisations or brand names through social media, consumers note "getting discounts or coupons" and "acquiring items and services" as the top 2 activities, respectively a UNITED STATE ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery offered discount rates on their products on their Facebook page. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is plainly in the favour of the possible client & the fantastic trick to social media marketing is to offer without attempting to sell (or looking like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the incorrect method.
Building a concrete purchaser to consumer relationship by means of social media is challenging and probably the most benefit to organisation' utilizing social media to increase their websites Google rankings. Company' need to comprehend that you can't just setup a Facebook organisation page and hope for the finest. SMM requires effort and possible clients need to see worth in exactly what you have to use by means of your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time then you might get better outcomes.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have actually dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their original rate ... and the suits are flying
As a web developer I was continuously (and now progressively) confronted with numerous social networking difficulties when prospective customers would state that having a website sounds excellent however they had a Facebook company page and had actually been informed by various Website sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their needs it ended up being quite clear that those potential customers didn't actually understand why they needed social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They simply wanted it. Well it's basic truly because social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not organisation media and company networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent research study done by the IBM Institute for Company Worth around 55% of all social media users specified that they do not engage with brands over social media at all and just around 23% really actively utilize social media to interact with brand names. Well first of all I would state that having a well enhanced site is still going to bring you far more business that social media in the majority of cases particularly if you are a little to medium sized local organisation since far more individuals are going to type in "hairdresser Port Macquarie" into a search engine like Google, Yahoo and Bing than they ever will on any Social Media Site and if you do not have a website you're missing out on out on all of that potential organisation. The primary factor many individuals provide for interacting with brand names or business on social media is to get discounts, yet the brand names and business themselves believe the main factor people engage with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products.
