S.M.M companies are now springing up all over the place these days and they are telling anybody that will listen about how exceptionally important social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your company but, for the typical little to medium sized organisation, does marketing to social networks really live up to all the buzz? Is investing a small fortune on hiring a SMM company truly worth it? And has anybody truly done their research on this before they employed someone to establish there Facebook business page? Some SMM business are setting up things like Facebook organisation pages (which are complimentary) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their customers that they do not need a site because Facebook is the greatest social network on the planet and everybody has a Facebook account. Now while it may be true that Facebook is the biggest social media worldwide and yes, Facebook's members are prospective consumers, the genuine concern is are they in fact buying? Social media marketing business are all too pleased to point out the positives of social media like how many people utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent last year and the number of people enjoy YouTube videos etc. but are you getting the full photo? I as soon as sat next to a SMM "professional" at a service workshop who was spruiking to anyone who came within earshot about the remarkable advantages of establishing a Facebook business page for small business (with him obviously) and selling on Facebook. So, interested by the abovementioned "experts" advice I looked him up on Facebook just to discover he had just 11 Facebook friends (not a great start). So being the research nut that I am, I decided to take an excellent check out SMM in regard to selling to see if it actually worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them? And should business rely so greatly on socials media for sales?
As a web designer I was constantly (and now significantly) confronted with a number of social networking challenges when prospective customers would say that having a website sounds excellent but they had a Facebook organisation page and had been informed by different 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 customers didn't actually understand why they needed social networks or SMM to create online sales, They just desired it. Well it's easy really due to the fact that social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not service media and business networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a current study done by the IBM Institute for Business Worth around 55% of all social media users stated that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and just around 23% actually actively use social media to connect with brands.
So how do you use social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?
Well to start with I would state that having a well enhanced website is still going to bring you even more company that social media in most cases particularly if you are a small to medium sized regional business since far more individuals 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 don't have a site you're missing out on all that potential service. However in spite of all the (not so good) stats I still think it is still a smart idea for organisation to use social media simply not in the same way that a lot of SMM professionals are today, Why? Because it's plainly not working in the way they declare it does. Basically SMM Business and Business as a whole looked at socials media like Facebook as a fresh market ripe for the picking when Facebook started getting users measured by the millions PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested US$ 500,000 for 7% of the business (in June 2004) and because them a couple of venture capital firms have actually made investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft revealed that it had actually purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. Nevertheless since Facebook's simple starts up until now (2012) both SMM Business and Organisation have cannot genuinely capitalise on the huge number of Facebook users online. The truth is numbers does not equal purchasers. Is it in a Social Media Marketing business's best interest to talk social media networks up? Definitely. Is it in a Social Network like Facebook's benefits for individuals to believe that companies can offer en masse by marketing and advertising with them? Of course it is. In early 2012, Facebook revealed that its earnings had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its income which is generally from advertising had jumped practically 90% to $3.71 billion so plainly the principle of SMM is working out for them but it is exercising for you? Well ... statistically no, however that does not necessarily imply that it never ever will.
One of the most significant problems business face with social networks and SMM is perception. The primary reason most people give for connecting with brand names or company on social media is to get discount rates, yet the brands and company themselves believe the primary reason people interact with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products. A lot of companies think social media will increase advocacy, but only 38 % of consumers concur.
There were some great initiatives revealed in the IBM research study of business that had gotten some sort of a manage on how to use social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that when asked what they do when they engage with services or brands by means of social media, consumers note "getting discounts or discount coupons" and "purchasing items and services" as the leading two activities, respectively an U.S ice cream business 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 excellent trick & the possible consumer to social media marketing is to offer without trying to offer (or looking like your selling) sadly most social media marketing is focused the wrong method.
Building a concrete buyer to consumer relationship by means of social media is difficult and most likely the most benefit to service' using social media to improve their websites Google rankings. However organisation' have to understand that you cannot just setup a Facebook organisation page and expect the very best. SMM requires effort and possible consumers need to see worth in what you need to provide by means of your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time then you may improve outcomes.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have actually dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their original cost ... and the claims are flying
As a web developer I was continuously (and now progressively) challenged with several social networking obstacles when prospective customers would state that having a website sounds excellent but they had a Facebook organisation page and had been informed by various sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their needs it became rather clear that those possible clients didn't in fact know why they required social networks or SMM to create online sales, They just desired it. Well it's simple truly due to the fact that social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not company media and organisation networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent study done by the IBM Institute for Organisation Worth 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 interact with brand names. Well initially of all SEO Agency I would say that having actually a well enhanced website is still going to bring you far more company that social media in most cases particularly if you are a little 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 website you're missing out on all of that potential company. The main factor most individuals give for communicating with brand names or organisation on social media is to receive discounts, yet the brands and business themselves think the primary reason people connect with them on social media is to learn about new products.
