Social Media is about building and nurturing real relationships with your existing clients and your target market. You can find your competition on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn … and so can your customers. Can they find you?
With today’s enormous shift toward online communication, having a social media presence in the online space is critical. It’s time to stop dipping your toes into the world of social media and make the plunge so that your content can be where your customers are looking for you.
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Blogs are, to-date, the top four social media tools used by marketers, with Twitter leading the pack by a hair.
Stay in Touch and Stand Out. Social media marketing programs typically center on efforts to create content that attracts attention, generates online conversations, and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. The message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it is coming from a trusted source, as opposed to the brand or company itself.
Define Your Goals Across the Platforms. Organizations need to define their goals for social media in order to be successful. For example, Facebook may be used for customer service and broadcasting updates while Twitter may be used for promotions. YouTube could provide a behind the scenes look at your organization. Among the goals for which social media can be used are:
- Customer service, e.g. direct response to customer comments and complaints
- Broadcasting updates, announcements, news, e.g. additional PR resource
- Promotions
- Behind the scenes look at the organization
- Advertising
According to the 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Michael Stelzner, a significant 85% of nearly 2,000 surveyed marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated exposure for their businesses. Improving traffic was the second major benefit, followed by building new partnerships. More than half of marketers indicated a rise in search engine rankings as a benefit of social media marketing. As search engine rankings improve, so will business exposure, lead generation efforts and a reduction in overall marketing expenses.
