Social Media Marketing, Reality and Lies

Social Media Marketing seems to be the most recent buzz word for anyone wanting 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 place these days and they are telling anyone that will listen about how incredibly crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your business however, for the average little to medium sized company, does marketing to social networks really live up to all the hype? Social media marketing business are all too happy to point out the positives of social media like how lots of people use Facebook or how many tweets were sent out last year and how lots of individuals enjoy YouTube videos etc. however are you getting the complete picture? Being the research study nut that I am, I decided to take a great 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 constantly (and now significantly) faced with numerous social networking difficulties when possible clients would state that having a site sounds good however they had a Facebook organisation page and had been informed by numerous sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their needs it became rather clear that those potential clients didn't actually know why they needed social networks or SMM to create online sales, They simply desired it. Well it's easy actually since social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not company media and company networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent study done by the IBM Institute for Service Worth 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% really actively use social media to engage with brand names.

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

Well first of all I would say that having actually a well enhanced website is still going to bring you far more company that social media in a lot of cases specifically if you are a little to medium sized local company due to the fact that 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 Site and if you don't have a website you're missing out on out on all of that possible business. Despite all the (not so great) data I still believe it is still a good concept for service to utilize social media simply not in the exact same method that a lot of SMM professionals are today, Why? Is it in a Social Media Marketing company's finest interest to talk social networks up?

One of the greatest problems organisation face with social networks and SMM is perception. The primary factor many people offer for communicating with brands or organisation on social media is to get discounts, yet the brand names and organisation themselves think the primary reason people connect with them on social media is to learn about new items. A lot of businesses think social media will increase advocacy, but just 38 % of consumers concur.

If they desire to see some sort of outcome from it, business need to find more ingenious ways to link with social media. There were some good efforts displayed in the IBM study of companies that had actually gotten some sort of a manage on ways to utilize social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that when asked exactly what they do when they connect with services or brands via social media, consumers note "getting discount rates or discount coupons" and "buying services and products" as the top two activities, Logan Williams SEO respectively an USA ice cream business called Cold Stone Creamery provided discounts on their products on their Facebook page. There is a great program launched by Finest Purchases in the UNITED STATE called Twelpforce where employees can respond to consumer's concerns through Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is plainly in the favour of the possible client & the fantastic trick to social media marketing is to sell without trying to offer (or looking like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.

Constructing a tangible buyer to customer relationship via social media is not easy and most likely the most benefit to company' utilizing social media to improve their websites Google rankings. Service' need to comprehend that you can't just setup a Facebook organisation page and hope for the best. SMM requires effort and possible clients need to see worth in what you need to provide by means of your social media efforts provide something worth their social interaction and time and after that you may improve results.

Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have actually 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 progressively) faced with numerous social networking difficulties when potential customers would say that having a website sounds great but they had a Facebook service 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 simply wanted 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 company media and organisation networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a current study done by the IBM Institute for Service 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% really actively use social media to interact with brand names. Well first of all I would state that having a well enhanced website is still going to bring you far more organisation that social media in a lot of cases especially if you are a little to medium sized local organisation 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 Site and if you do not have a website you're missing out on out on all of that potential service. The primary factor many 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 new products.

Leave a Reply

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