S.M.M companies are now springing up all over the place these days and they are informing anybody that will listen about how incredibly crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your service however, for the typical small to medium sized business, does marketing to socials media truly live up to all the hype? Is spending a little fortune on employing a SMM company really worth it? And has anybody truly done their research on this before they employed someone to establish there Facebook organisation page? Some SMM companies are establishing things like Facebook business pages (which are complimentary) for $600 to $1,000 or more and informing their clients that they do not require a site since Facebook is the biggest social media network on the planet and everyone has a Facebook account. Now while it might hold true that Facebook is the biggest social media network worldwide and yes, Facebook's members are potential customers, the genuine concern is are they really buying? Social media marketing business are all too pleased to mention the positives of social media like the number of individuals use Facebook or how many tweets were sent last year and the number of individuals view YouTube videos etc. but are you getting the complete photo? I as soon as sat beside a SMM "professional" at a service workshop who was spruiking to anyone who came within earshot about the incredible benefits of setting up a Facebook organisation page for small company (with him of course) and selling on Facebook. So, intrigued by the aforementioned "specialists" recommendations I looked him up on Facebook only to discover he had just 11 Facebook friends (not an excellent start). Being the research nut that I am, I chose to take a great appearance 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 organisation rely so heavily on socials media for sales?
As a web developer I was continuously (and now progressively) 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 different sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social media networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their needs it ended up being quite clear that those possible clients didn't in fact know why they required social media networks or SMM to generate online sales, They simply wanted it. For little and medium sized service I always advised developing a quality site over any type of social media, why? Well it's simple actually since social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not organisation media and company networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). I understand that sounds simple however it's true and the data back it up. The truth is that social media marketing cannot inform you that Facebook is a social network not an online search engine and in spite of the variety of Facebook users and Google users being around the exact same, individuals do not use Facebook in the same way that they use an online search engine like Google (which has around half the online search engine market), Yahoo and Bing to search for service or products. They utilize it to communicate with family and friends or for news and home entertainment. In a recent research 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% in fact purposefully use social media to engage with brands. Now from all the people who do utilize social media and who do communicate with brand names whether purposefully or not, the bulk (66%) say they have to feel a company is interacting honestly prior to they will connect.
So how do you utilize social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?
Well initially of all I would state that having actually a well optimized website is still going to bring you far more service that social media in a lot of cases specifically if you are a small to medium sized local company 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 website you're missing out on out on all of that possible business. Despite all the (not so great) data I still think it is still a good idea for company to use social media simply not in the very same way that a lot of SMM professionals are today, Why? Is it in a Social Media Marketing company's best interest to talk social networks up?
One of the biggest problems business face with social networks and SMM is perception. The primary reason most individuals give for interacting with brand names or organisation on social media is to get discount rates, yet the brand names and organisation themselves believe the primary factor people communicate with them on social media is to learn about new products. The majority of organisations think social media will increase advocacy, however just 38 % of customers concur.
There were some excellent initiatives shown in the IBM study of business that had actually gotten some sort of a deal with on how to use social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that when asked exactly what they do when they engage with companies or brands by means of social media, customers note "getting discounts or coupons" and "acquiring items and services" as the top 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 great technique & the prospective customer to social media marketing is to offer without trying to sell (or looking like your selling) regrettably most social media marketing is focused the incorrect way.
Developing a concrete buyer to consumer relationship via social media is difficult and probably the most benefit to company' using social media to increase their sites Google rankings. But business' need to comprehend that you can't simply setup a Facebook business page and wish for the very 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 may get better outcomes.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their original rate ... and Website the suits are flying
As a web designer I was continuously (and now increasingly) challenged with numerous social networking difficulties when possible customers would say that having a website sounds excellent but they had a Facebook business 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 clients didn't actually understand why they needed social networks or SMM to create online sales, They just wanted it. Well it's basic 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 Service Value around 55% of all social media users mentioned that they do not engage with brands over social media at all and only around 23% really purposefully utilize social media to interact with brand names. Well first of all I would state that having a well optimized site is still going to bring you far more company that social media in the majority of 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 "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 of that prospective business. The main reason a lot of people offer for communicating with brand names or company on social media is to get discounts, yet the brand names and business themselves believe the main factor people connect with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products.
