Social Media Marketing, Fact and Lies

Social Media Marketing seems to be the current buzz word for anybody seeking to increase their online presence and sales, but 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 anyone that will listen about how extremely crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your service however, for the typical small to medium sized business, does marketing to social networks actually live up to all the buzz? Social media marketing business are all too delighted to point out the positives of social media like how lots of individuals use Facebook or how many tweets were sent out last year and how lots of individuals watch YouTube videos and so on but are you getting the full picture? Being the research study nut that I am, I chose to take a great look into SMM in regard to offering to see if it in fact worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them?

As a web designer I was continuously (and now significantly) challenged with several social networking obstacles when potential customers would say that having a site sounds great however they had a Facebook company page and had been informed by different sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the important things to do, but after discussing their requirements it became rather clear that those potential customers didn't in fact understand why they needed social media networks or SMM to produce online sales, They just wanted it. For small and medium sized company I always recommended building a quality site over any kind of social network, why? Well it's basic really due to the fact that 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). I know that sounds easy however it's true and the data back it up. The fact is that social media marketing cannot tell you that Facebook is a social media network not a search engine and in spite of the number of Facebook users and Google users being around the very same, individuals don't 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 products. They use it to correspond with family and friends or for news and home entertainment. In a recent research study done by the IBM Institute for Business Value around 55% of all social media users mentioned that they do not engage with brands over social media at all and just around 23% actually actively use social media to engage with brands. Now out of all individuals who do use social media and who do communicate with brand names whether purposefully or not, the bulk (66%) state they need to feel a business is communicating truthfully prior to they will communicate.

So how do you use social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?

Well first of all I would say that having a well enhanced site is still going to bring you far more business that social media in many cases specifically Website if you are a little to medium sized regional business because 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 Website and if you do not have a site you're missing out on out on all of that potential company. In spite of all the (not so great) data I still believe it is still an excellent idea for business to use social media just not in the exact same method 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 greatest problems organisation face with social networks and SMM is understanding. The primary reason the majority of individuals give for connecting with brand names or company on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brand names and service themselves believe the primary reason people engage with them on social media is to discover about new products. The majority of services believe social media will increase advocacy, but only 38 % of customers concur.

There were some excellent initiatives shown in the IBM research study of business that had gotten some sort of a handle on how to use social media to their benefit, keeping in mind that when asked what they do when they engage with services or brands via social media, consumers note "getting discount rates or discount coupons" and "purchasing items and services" as the leading two activities, respectively an USA ice cream business called Cold Stone Creamery provided discounts on their items on their Facebook page. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the advantage is clearly in the favour of the potential consumer & the excellent trick to social media marketing is to sell without attempting to offer (or looking like your selling) sadly most social media marketing is focused the wrong method.

Constructing a concrete buyer to customer relationship through social media is difficult and most likely the most benefit to service' using social media to boost their sites Google rankings. But business' have to comprehend that you can't just setup a Facebook organisation page and expect the best. SMM requires effort and possible clients need to see worth in exactly what you have to use through 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 dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their original rate ... and the lawsuits are flying


As a web designer I was continuously (and now increasingly) challenged with a number of social networking challenges when possible clients would say that having a site sounds great however they had a Facebook service page and had been informed by various 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 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 actually 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 stated that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and only around 23% in fact purposefully utilize social media to communicate with brands. Well initially of all I would say that having actually a well optimized 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 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 don't have a site you're missing out on all of that possible company. The main reason the majority of people offer for engaging with brands or service on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and service themselves think the primary reason individuals interact with them on social media is to find out about new items.

Leave a Reply

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