S.M.M companies are now springing up all over the place these days and they are informing anyone that will listen about how incredibly essential social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your business but, for the typical small to medium sized service, does marketing to social networks really live up to all the buzz? Social media marketing business are all too delighted to point out the positives of social media like how numerous individuals utilize Facebook or how numerous tweets were sent out last year and how many people watch YouTube videos and so on but are you getting the complete picture? Being the research nut that I am, I chose to take a great appearance into SMM in regard to offering 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 continuously (and now significantly) confronted with a number of social networking obstacles when potential customers would say that having a website sounds excellent but they had a Facebook service page and had actually been informed by numerous sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their needs it ended up being quite clear that those prospective customers didn't in fact know why they needed social networks or SMM to produce online sales, They simply desired it. Well it's simple really since social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not organisation media and business networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent study done by the IBM Institute for Company Value around 55% of all social media users specified that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and just around 23% actually purposefully use social media to connect with brand names.
So how do you use social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?
Well first off I would say that having a well optimized site is still going to bring you even more business that social media for the most parts specifically if you are a little to medium sized regional organisation because far more people are going to enter "hair stylist Port Macquarie" into an online search engine like Google, Yahoo and Bing than they ever will on any Social Media Site and if you don't have a website you're losing out on all of that potential company. Despite all the (not so good) stats I still think it is still an excellent idea for company to use social media just not in the same way that a lot of SMM professionals are today, Why? Since it's plainly not operating in the method they declare it does. Generally SMM Business and Business as a whole took a look at socials media like Facebook as a fresh market ripe for the selecting when Facebook began getting users determined by the millions PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested US$ 500,000 for 7% of the company (in June 2004) and because them a few venture capital firms have made investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft revealed that it had actually bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. Considering that Facebook's modest starts up till now (2012) both SMM Companies and Business have actually stopped working to genuinely capitalise on the big number of Facebook users online. The reality is numbers does not equivalent purchasers. Is it in a Social Media Marketing business's benefit to talk socials media up? Absolutely. Is it in a Social Network like Facebook's best interests for people to think that business can offer en masse by marketing and advertising with them? Of course it is. In early 2012, Facebook revealed that its revenues had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its income which is primarily from marketing had jumped nearly 90% to $3.71 billion so clearly the idea of SMM is working out for them however it is exercising for you? Well ... statistically no, but that does not necessarily suggest that it never ever will.
I believe the major difference between social media networks and online search engine is intent. Individuals who utilize Google are intentionally looking for something so if they do a look for hair stylists that's exactly Elite Digital Marketing agency what they are trying to find at that particular time. With something like Facebook the main intent is usually to connect with friends and family. In October 2008, Mark Zuckerberg himself stated "I do not believe social networks can be generated income from in the same way that search (Online search engine) did ... In three years from now we have to determine exactly what the optimum model is. That is not our primary focus today". One of the most significant issues business face with social media networks and SMM is understanding. Inning accordance with the IBM Institute for Company Worth research study there were "significant spaces between what services believe consumers appreciate and what consumers state they desire from their social media interactions with companies." In today's society individuals are not simply going to hand you over there suggestions, Facebook likes, comments or information without getting something back for it, so the old adage "exactly what's in it for me?" comes into play. The main reason a lot of individuals give for engaging with brands or organisation on social media is to receive discounts, yet the brand names and business themselves believe the primary reason individuals connect with them on social media is to learn about brand-new items. For brands and service receiving discount rates just ranks 12th on their list of reasons why individuals interact with them. A lot of businesses think social media will increase advocacy, however just 38 % of consumers agree.
If they desire to see some sort of result from it, companies need to discover more ingenious methods to link with social media. There were some good efforts shown in the IBM study of business that had gotten some sort of a deal with on how to utilize social media to their benefit, keeping in mind that when asked what they do when they communicate with organisations or brands through social media, customers list "getting discount rates or vouchers" and "purchasing services and products" as the leading two activities, respectively a UNITED STATE ice cream business called Cold Stone Creamery offered discount rates on their items on their Facebook page. There is a great program introduced by Best Purchases in the UNITED STATE 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 clearly in the favour of the fantastic trick & the possible customer to social media marketing is to sell without aiming to offer (or looking like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Building a tangible buyer to consumer relationship via social media is difficult and probably the most benefit to company' using social media to increase their websites Google rankings. Company' need to understand that you can't just setup a Facebook business page and hope for the best. SMM requires effort and potential customers have to see worth in exactly what you need to provide through your social media efforts provide something worth their social interaction and time and after that you may get better results.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their original rate ... and the claims are flying
As a web designer I was continuously (and now progressively) faced with a number of social networking challenges when potential clients would say that having a website sounds excellent however 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, but after discussing their requirements it ended up being rather clear that those prospective customers didn't really know why they needed social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They simply desired it. Well it's easy truly since social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not company media and business networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a current study done by the IBM Institute for Company Value around 55% of all social media users mentioned that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and only around 23% actually purposefully utilize social media to engage with brands. Well first of all I would state that having actually a well optimized website is still going to bring you far more business that social media in the majority of cases specifically if you are a little to medium sized local business due to the fact that 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 Website and if you do not have a website you're missing out on all of that possible service. The primary reason the majority of individuals give for interacting with brand names or service on social media is to get discounts, yet the brands and service themselves think the main factor people interact with them on social media is to find out about brand-new products.
