S.M.M business are now springing up all over the place nowadays and they are informing anyone that will listen about how extremely important social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your organisation however, for the average little to medium sized service, does marketing to social media networks truly live up to all the hype? Is investing a small fortune on hiring a SMM business truly worth it? And has anyone actually done their research on this before they worked with someone to set up there Facebook business page? Some SMM business are setting up things like Facebook business pages (which are free) for $600 to $1,000 or more and informing their clients that they don't need a site since Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide and everyone has a Facebook account. Now while it might be true that Facebook is the biggest social media network in the world and yes, Facebook's members are possible customers, the real concern is are they really buying? Social media marketing companies are all too delighted to explain the positives of social media like how many individuals use Facebook or the number of tweets were sent last year and how many individuals view YouTube videos and so on however are you getting the full photo? I once sat beside a SMM "expert" at a business workshop who was spruiking to anyone who came within earshot about the amazing advantages of establishing a Facebook service page for small business (with him of course) and selling on Facebook. Interested by the previously mentioned "experts" advice I looked him up on Facebook just to find he had just 11 Facebook good friends (not an excellent start). 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 actually worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them? And should business rely so heavily on social media networks for sales?
As a web developer I was continuously (and now increasingly) faced with numerous social networking difficulties when possible clients would say that having a website sounds good but they had a Facebook business page and had been told by various sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their needs it became rather clear that those potential clients didn't in fact know why they needed social networks or SMM to create online sales, They just wanted it. Well it's basic 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 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% 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 to start with I would state that having a well optimized site is still going to bring you far more company that social media most of the times especially if you are a small to medium sized local organisation because far more individuals are going to key 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 website you're missing out on all of that possible organisation. Regardless of all the (not so good) stats I still believe it is still an excellent idea for service to utilize social media just not in the same way that a lot of SMM experts are today, Why? Due to the fact that it's clearly not operating in the method they declare it does. Basically SMM Companies and Service as a whole looked at social media networks 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 given that them a few equity capital companies have actually made financial investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft announced Logan Williams SEO that it had bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. Nevertheless given that Facebook's humble beginnings up until now (2012) both SMM Business and Service have actually cannot truly capitalise on the huge number of Facebook users online. The fact is numbers does not equivalent purchasers. Is it in a Social Media Marketing company's best interest to talk social media networks up? Definitely. Is it in a Social Media like Facebook's benefits for individuals to believe that companies can sell en masse by marketing and advertising with them? Naturally it is. In early 2012, Facebook divulged that its profits had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its income which is primarily from marketing had leapt almost 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, however that does not always suggest that it never ever will.
One of the most significant problems business face with social networks and SMM is perception. The main factor a lot of individuals give for connecting with brands or business on social media is to get discounts, yet the brands and company themselves believe the main reason individuals interact with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products. Many organisations think social media will increase advocacy, however only 38 % of customers concur.
Business have to discover more innovative methods to connect with social media if they wish to see some sort of result from it. There were some excellent efforts displayed in the IBM study of business that had gotten some sort of a manage on how to utilize social media to their advantage, remembering that when asked what they do when they interact with businesses or brand names through social media, consumers note "getting discounts or coupons" and "acquiring services and products" as the top 2 activities, respectively an U.S ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery used discount rates on their items on their Facebook page. There is a terrific program introduced by Best Purchases in the UNITED STATE called Twelpforce where staff members can respond to client's concerns through Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is plainly in the favour of the possible customer & the great technique to social media marketing is to offer without trying to offer (or looking like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Developing a tangible purchaser to customer relationship by means of social media is not easy and probably the most benefit to service' using social media to boost their websites Google rankings. However service' have to understand that you cannot simply setup a Facebook service page and hope for the very best. SMM requires effort and possible clients have to see worth in exactly what you need to offer through your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time then you might get better results.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have actually dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their initial rate ... and the suits are flying
As a web developer I was continuously (and now significantly) challenged with several social networking difficulties when possible customers would say that having a site sounds great however they had a Facebook service page and had actually been told by numerous sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their requirements it became quite clear that those possible customers didn't really know why they required social networks or SMM to generate 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 organisation media and service networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a current 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% actually actively use social media to connect with brands. Well initially of all I would say that having actually a well optimized site is still going to bring you far more company that social media in most cases particularly if you are a small to medium sized regional company 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 don't have a site you're missing out on all of that prospective business. The main reason the majority of people offer for communicating with brands or service on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and service themselves think the primary reason individuals communicate with them on social media is to find out about new items.
