S.M.M business are now springing up all over the place these days and they are informing anyone that will listen about how incredibly crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your service but, for the average little to medium sized company, does marketing to social networks actually measure up to all the hype? Is spending a little fortune on employing a SMM company actually worth it? And has anybody really done their research study on this prior to they hired somebody to set up there Facebook business page? Some SMM business are setting up things like Facebook business pages (which are complimentary) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their clients that they don't require a website due to the fact that Facebook is the biggest social network on the planet and everybody has a Facebook account. Now while it might hold true that Facebook is the largest social media worldwide and yes, Facebook's members are prospective consumers, the genuine question is are they actually purchasing? Social media marketing business are all too pleased to explain the positives of social media like how many people utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent in 2015 and the number of people view YouTube videos etc. but are you getting the full picture? I when sat beside a SMM "specialist" at a business seminar who was spruiking to anyone who came within earshot about the fantastic benefits of setting up a Facebook company page for small company (with him obviously) and selling on Facebook. So, fascinated by the previously mentioned "experts" advice I looked him up on Facebook only to discover he had just 11 Facebook buddies (not an excellent start). So being the research nut that I am, I decided 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? And should business rely so greatly on social media networks for sales?
As a web developer I was continuously (and now increasingly) challenged with several social networking obstacles when prospective clients would state that having a website sounds great but they had a Facebook service page and had been told by various sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their requirements it ended up being quite clear that those prospective customers didn't really understand why they needed social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They just desired it. Well it's easy 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). In a current study done by the IBM Institute for Service Worth around 55% of all social media users stated that they do not engage with brands over social media at all and just around 23% in fact 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 service that social media in most cases particularly if you are a small to medium sized local organisation because even more people are going to enter "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 losing out on all that potential service. Despite all the (not so great) stats I still think it is still a great concept for organisation to utilize social media just not in the exact same method that a lot of SMM specialists are today, Why? Because it's clearly not operating in the way they claim it does. Generally SMM Companies and Company as a whole took a look at social networks like Facebook as a fresh market ripe for the picking and when Facebook began getting users determined 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 venture capital companies have actually made financial investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft announced that it had bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. Since Facebook's simple starts up till now (2012) both SMM Companies and Company have actually stopped working to genuinely capitalise on the huge number of Facebook users online. The reality is numbers does not equivalent buyers. 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 people to believe that business can offer en masse by marketing and advertising with them? Naturally it is. In early 2012, Facebook disclosed that its revenues had leapt 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its earnings which is mainly from advertising had leapt nearly 90% to $3.71 billion so clearly the concept of SMM is exercising for them however it is exercising for you? Well ... statistically no, however that does not always mean that it never will.
One of the greatest issues service face with social networks and SMM is understanding. The primary reason many people give for connecting with brands or business on social media is to get discount rates, yet the brand names and organisation themselves believe the main reason people communicate with them on social media is to learn about new products. The majority of services think social media will increase advocacy, but only 38 % of consumers agree.
Business have to discover more innovative ways to connect with social media if they wish to see some sort of arise from it. There were some excellent efforts displayed in the IBM study of companies that had gotten some sort of a handle on the best ways to utilize social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that when asked what they do when they connect with organisations or brand names by means of social media, customers list "getting discounts or coupons" and "acquiring product or services" as the leading 2 activities, respectively a UNITED STATE ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery offered discount rates on their items on their Facebook page. There is a fantastic program launched by Finest Buys in the UNITED STATE called Twelpforce where employees can react to client's concerns via Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the advantage is clearly in the favour of the possible client & the excellent technique to social media marketing is to offer without attempting to sell (or looking like your selling) sadly most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Developing a tangible buyer to customer relationship by means of social media is challenging and probably the most benefit to organisation' utilizing social media to increase their sites Google rankings. However organisation' have to understand that you cannot just setup a Facebook organisation page and expect the best. SMM needs effort and potential consumers need to see value in exactly what you have to use by means of your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time then you may improve outcomes.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have actually dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their original rate ... and the suits are flying
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 company page and had actually been informed by various sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their needs it became quite clear that those prospective clients didn't really know why they required social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They simply wanted it. Well it's simple actually because 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 current study done Website by the IBM Institute for Business 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% in fact purposefully use social media to connect with brands. Well initially of all I would say that having a well enhanced website is still going to bring you far more business that social media in a lot of cases specifically if you are a small to medium sized local service 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 do not have a website you're missing out on out on all of that prospective organisation. The main factor the majority of individuals offer for connecting with brand names or service on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and company themselves think the primary factor people connect with them on social media is to find out about new products.
