Over the last 3 months I have immersed myself in the online industry and world of social media. Because of all this learning, training, listening and participating in this field, along with my natural social tendencies, I do admit to forgetting that in fact, some people do not know what this term “Social Media” is !
You may have an idea that it’s something to do with Facebook and Twitter, but what does that mean to you? And if you are not one of the 500 million people on Facebook then you may be even more perplexed.
I have explained on a separate Page on my website, what I believe is a good summary of what Social Media means. Have a read.
Then, consider this:
We no longer search for the news, the news finds us…
We will no longer search for products and services, they will find us via social media
I have talked further in my next blog post about the Impact of Social Media and the way its changing the face of marketing and communication.
If all businesses are in social media networks, and people no longer have to look for their products and services, your competition is even stronger.
“We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it” Erik Qualman
So, you need to stand out with Engaging and Interesting Content to keep your clients/fans interested. And for that Content to be engaging and interesting it cannot be about YOU all of the time (more on that in another post too).
Having said all this, Social Media is just a marketing tool, to complement all your other marketing activity.
BUT it is very powerful, particularly for certain target markets.
How can Social Media Benefit YOUR Business:
A study of US marketers showed that these were the top 3 benefits of social media marketing:
- Generating exposure for the business and brand
- Increasing traffic to your websites
- Building new business partnerships/relationships
It’s all of that and more…
It is Very Cost-Effective
And… you get to know your customer and what they want, ie. Free research.
A good analogy is that marketing a business with social media is like meeting people at a party.
And, if social media marketing is like meeting people at a party, then think of Social Media Mgr as the party planner… Need help in your evaluating whether social media can help your business and how best to do this? Contact us for a FREE evaluation assessment.
