Social Media Marketing, Reality and Lies

Social Media Marketing appears to be the latest buzz word for anyone seeking to increase their online existence and sales, however is Social Media Marketing (SMM) all it is cracked up to be?

S.M.M companies are now springing up all over the location these days and they are informing anybody that will listen about how extremely crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your service but, for the typical little to medium sized company, does marketing to social networks really live up to all the buzz? Social media marketing companies are all too delighted to point out the positives of social media like how numerous individuals utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent out last year and how lots of individuals view YouTube videos and so on however are you getting the full picture? Being the research study nut that I am, I decided to take an excellent look 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 developer I was continuously (and now increasingly) confronted with numerous social networking challenges when possible clients would state that having a website sounds excellent but they had a Facebook organisation page and had been told by various sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social media networks were the important things to do, but after discussing their needs it became quite clear that those potential clients didn't really know why they required socials media or SMM to create online sales, They simply desired it. For small and medium sized service I always advised building a quality website over any kind of social media network, why? Well it's simple really due to the fact that social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not business media and company networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). I know that sounds easy however it's true and the statistics back it up. The fact is that social media marketing cannot inform you that Facebook is a social media network not a search engine and despite the number of Facebook users and Google users being around the same, people don't use Facebook in the same way that they utilize a search engine like Google (which has around half the search engine market), Yahoo and Bing to look for business or products. They utilize it to communicate with family and friends or for news and home entertainment. In a current study done by the IBM Institute for Company Worth around 55% of all social media users stated that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and only around 23% in fact actively use social media to interact with brands. Now out of all individuals who do use social media and who do engage with brands whether actively or not, the majority (66%) state they have to feel a company is interacting honestly prior to they will interact.

How do you utilize social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?

Well initially of all I would state that having actually a well optimized website is still going to bring you far more company that Website social media in many cases particularly if you are a small to medium sized local company because 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 Site and if you do not have a site you're missing out on out on all of that possible organisation. Regardless of all the (not so great) stats I still think it is still a good idea for company to utilize social media simply not in the very same way that a lot of SMM specialists are today, Why? Is it in a Social Media Marketing company's best interest to talk social networks up?

One of the biggest problems company face with social networks and SMM is understanding. The primary reason most individuals provide for communicating with brands or business on social media is to get discount rates, yet the brands and organisation themselves think the primary factor individuals connect with them on social media is to find out about brand-new products. Many companies believe social media will increase advocacy, but just 38 % of customers concur.

If they desire to see some sort of result from it, companies require to discover more ingenious ways to connect with social media. There were some good efforts displayed in the IBM research study of companies that had gotten some sort of a handle on how to utilize social media to their benefit, bearing in mind that when asked what they do when they interact with businesses or brand names by means of social media, customers list "getting discounts or vouchers" and "acquiring product or services" as the leading two activities, respectively an U.S ice cream business called Cold Stone Creamery used discount rates on their products on their Facebook page. Alternatively there is a great program released by Finest Buys in the U.S called Twelpforce where staff members can react to client's questions by means of Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the advantage is plainly in the favour of the fantastic trick & the potential consumer to social media marketing is to offer without attempting to sell (or looking like your selling) regrettably most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.

Developing a tangible purchaser to customer relationship through social media is difficult and probably the most benefit to organisation' using social media to boost their websites Google rankings. Company' need to comprehend that you can't simply setup a Facebook company page and hope for the finest. SMM needs effort and potential consumers have to see value in exactly what you have to use through your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time then you may get better outcomes.

Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their initial price ... and the claims are flying


As a web developer I was constantly (and now significantly) faced with several social networking difficulties when potential customers would say that having a website sounds excellent but they had a Facebook organisation page and had actually been told by different sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their needs it ended up being quite clear that those possible clients didn't actually understand why they needed social networks or SMM to create online sales, They just desired it. Well it's easy really since social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not business media and service 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% actually actively use social media to connect with brands. Well initially of all I would say that having actually a well optimized site is still going to bring you far more company that social media in most cases particularly if you are a little to medium sized regional organisation since far more people are going to type in "hair stylist 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 service. The primary factor most individuals provide for connecting with brands or organisation on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and organisation themselves think the primary reason individuals interact with them on social media is to discover about brand-new products.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *