Social Media Marketing, Reality and Lies

Social Media Marketing appears to be the latest buzz word for anybody looking to increase their online existence and sales, however is Social Media Marketing (SMM) all it is cracked up to be?

S.M.M business are now springing up all over the location these days and they are informing anyone that will listen about how exceptionally crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your company but, for the typical little to medium sized service, does marketing to social networks actually live up to all the hype? Social media marketing business are all too delighted to point out the positives of social media like how many people utilize Facebook or how lots of tweets were sent out last year and how lots of individuals view YouTube videos etc. but are you getting the complete image? Being the research nut that I am, I chose to take a great look 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 developer I was constantly (and now significantly) challenged with several social networking difficulties when possible clients would state that having a site sounds good but they had a Facebook company page and had actually been told by different sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their needs it became quite clear that those prospective customers didn't in fact know why they needed social networks or SMM to create online sales, They simply wanted it. Well it's simple truly because 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 recent study done by the IBM Institute for Business 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 interact with brands.

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

Well firstly I would state that having a well enhanced website is still going to bring you much more organisation that social media for the most parts particularly if you are a small to medium sized local company due to the fact that far more individuals 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 do not have a website you're missing out on all that possible business. Nevertheless regardless of all the (not so excellent) data I still think it is still a great idea for company to utilize social media simply 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. Basically SMM Companies and Company as a whole took a look at socials media like Facebook as a fresh market ripe for the picking and when Facebook began getting users measured by the millions PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested US$ 500,000 for 7% of the business (in June 2004) and since them a few equity capital companies have made financial investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft revealed that it had acquired a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. Given that Facebook's humble starts up until now (2012) both SMM Companies and Company have actually stopped working to 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 company's best interest to talk social media networks up? Definitely. Is it in a Social Network like Facebook's benefits for individuals to think that companies can offer en masse by marketing and advertising with them? Of course it is. In early 2012, Facebook disclosed that its profits had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its profits which is primarily from marketing had leapt almost 90% to $3.71 billion so clearly the idea of SMM is exercising for them however it is exercising for you? Well ... statistically no, however that does not necessarily imply that it never ever will.

I think the significant distinction between social networks and search engines is intent. People who use Google are intentionally looking for something so if they do a look for hair stylists that's what they are searching for at that specific time. With something like Facebook the main intent is normally to connect with family and friends. In October 2008, Mark Zuckerberg himself stated "I don't think social networks can be monetized in the same way that search (Search Engines) did ... In three years from now we need to determine what the maximum design is. However that is not our main focus today". One of the biggest problems service face with socials media and SMM is understanding. Inning accordance with the IBM Institute for Business Worth research study there were "considerable gaps between exactly what services think consumers appreciate and exactly what customers say they want from their social media interactions with companies." In today's society people are not simply going to hand you over there recommendations, Facebook likes, comments or information without getting something back for it, so the old expression "exactly what's in it for me?" enters into play. The primary factor a lot of people give for interacting with brand names or organisation on social media is to get discounts, yet the brand names and company themselves think the primary reason people interact with them on social media is to find out about brand-new products. For brand names and service receiving discounts only ranks 12th on their list of reasons why individuals communicate with them. The majority of organisations think social media will increase advocacy, however only 38 % of customers agree.

If they desire to see some sort of result from it, business require to discover more innovative methods to connect with social media. There were some great initiatives displayed in the IBM research study of business that had actually gotten some sort of a manage on the best ways to utilize social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that when asked what they do when they connect with services or brands via social media, customers list "getting discounts or discount coupons" and "purchasing product or services" as the leading two activities, respectively an USA ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery used discounts on their items on their Facebook page. Additionally there is a great program launched by Finest Buys in the USA called Twelpforce where workers can react to client's questions by means of Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is plainly in the favour of the potential consumer & the fantastic technique to social media marketing is to sell without attempting to sell (or appearing like your selling) sadly most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.

Constructing a concrete buyer to customer relationship through social media is difficult and most likely the most benefit to business' utilizing social media to boost their websites Google rankings. Organisation' need to comprehend that you cannot 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 via your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time and after that you may improve results.

Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their initial price ... and the claims are flying


As a web designer I was constantly (and now significantly) faced with numerous social networking challenges when prospective clients would state that having a site sounds good but they had a Facebook company 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 rather clear that those possible clients didn't really know why they required social networks or Website SMM to create online sales, They just wanted it. Well it's easy actually because social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not company media and service networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent study done by the IBM Institute for Company Worth 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 communicate with brands. Well first of all I would say that having a well enhanced site is still going to bring you far more organisation that social media in most cases especially if you are a small to medium sized local company because 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 Site and if you don't have a website you're missing out on all of that possible organisation. The main reason a lot of individuals give for communicating with brand names or organisation on social media is to get discount rates, yet the brand names and business themselves think the primary reason people interact with them on social media is to learn about brand-new items.

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