S.M.M business are now emerging all over the place nowadays and they are telling anyone that will listen about how incredibly crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your organisation however, for the average small to medium sized business, does marketing to socials media actually measure 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 prior to they worked with someone to set up there Facebook organisation page? Some SMM business are setting up things like Facebook organisation pages (which are totally free) for $600 to $1,000 or more and informing their customers that they don't need a website because Facebook is the greatest social media on the planet and everybody has a Facebook account. Now while it may hold true that Facebook is the biggest social network in the world and yes, Facebook's members are possible consumers, the genuine concern is are they actually purchasing? Social media marketing companies are all too happy to point out the positives of social media like the number of people use Facebook or the number of tweets were sent out last year and the number of people watch YouTube videos and so on however are you getting the full picture? I as soon as sat beside a SMM "expert" at a business workshop who was spruiking to anyone who came within earshot about the fantastic advantages of setting up a Facebook service page for small business (with him of course) and selling on Facebook. Fascinated by the aforementioned "specialists" guidance I looked him up on Facebook just to discover he had only 11 Facebook pals (not a good start). Being the research nut that I am, I chose to take a good appearance into SMM in regard to selling to see if it in fact worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them? And should company rely so greatly on social media networks for sales?
As a web designer I was constantly (and now increasingly) challenged with several social networking obstacles when prospective clients would state that having a site sounds excellent but they had a Facebook service page and had been informed by various sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social networks were the important things to do, but after discussing their requirements it became rather clear that those potential customers didn't actually understand why they needed social media networks or SMM to generate online sales, They simply wanted it. For little and medium sized service I always suggested building a quality site over any kind of social media network, why? Well it's basic really due to the fact that 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). I know that sounds basic however it holds true and the statistics back it up. The reality is that social media marketing fails to inform you that Facebook is a social network not an online search engine and despite the variety of Facebook users and Google users being around the same, individuals don't utilize Facebook in the same way that they use a search engine like Google (which has around half the online search engine market), Yahoo and Bing to search for organisation or products. They use it to communicate with friends and family or for news and entertainment. 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 brand names over social media at all and only around 23% in fact purposefully utilize social media to interact with brands. Now from all the people who do utilize social media and who do connect with brands whether actively or not, the majority (66%) state they have to feel a company is interacting honestly prior to they will interact.
How do you utilize social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?
Well first of all I would say that having actually a well optimized website is still going to bring you far more company that social media in a lot of cases specifically if you are a small to medium sized local service because 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 all of that prospective organisation. Despite all the (not so good) statistics I still think it is still a good idea for company to utilize social media simply not in the exact same method that a lot of SMM experts are today, Why? Is it in a Social Media Marketing company's best interest to talk social networks up?
I think the significant difference between social networks and online search engine is intent. Individuals who utilize Google are deliberately searching for something so if they do a look for hair stylists that's exactly what they are searching for at that specific time. With something like Facebook the main intent is normally to get in touch with friends and family. In October 2008, Mark Zuckerberg himself said "I don't think social media networks can be monetized in the same way that search (Online search engine) did ... In 3 years from now we need to find out what the optimum design is. But that is not our main focus today". Among the greatest issues service face with social networks and SMM is understanding. Inning accordance with the IBM Institute for Organisation Worth research study there were "substantial spaces in between exactly what services believe customers appreciate and exactly what customers say they want from their social media interactions with business." In today's society individuals are not simply going to hand you over there suggestions, Facebook likes, remarks or information without getting something back for it, so the old saying "exactly what's in it for me?" enters play. So the main factor the majority of people provide for engaging with brand names or organisation on social media is to get discounts, yet the brands and business themselves believe the primary factor individuals interact with them on social media is to learn about new products. For brand names and organisation getting discount rates just ranks 12th on their list of reasons that individuals engage with them. A lot of services think social media will increase advocacy, however only 38 % of consumers agree.
If they desire to see some sort of outcome from it, business need to find more ingenious ways to connect with social media. There were some good efforts shown in the IBM research study of companies that had gotten some sort of a deal with on how to utilize social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that when asked what they do when they interact with organisations or brand names by means of social media, customers list "getting discounts or coupons" and "purchasing products and services" as the leading 2 activities, respectively a UNITED STATE ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery offered discounts on their items on their Facebook page. Additionally there is an excellent program released by Best Buys in the U.S called Twelpforce where employees can react to consumer's questions through Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the advantage is clearly in the favour of the terrific trick & the potential customer to social media marketing is to offer without aiming to sell (or looking like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Constructing a concrete buyer to consumer relationship by means of social media is challenging and probably the most benefit to organisation' utilizing social media to increase their sites Google rankings. Organisation' require to understand that you can't simply setup a Facebook company page and hope for the best. SMM needs effort and prospective customers have to see worth in what you need to provide via your social media efforts provide something worth their social interaction and time and after that you may improve outcomes.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their initial cost ... and the lawsuits are flying
As a web designer I was constantly (and now increasingly) challenged with a number of social networking challenges when possible clients would state that having a site sounds good however they had a Facebook company page and had been informed by different sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their needs it ended up being quite clear that those possible customers didn't actually understand why they needed social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They simply wanted it. Well it's basic truly because social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not service media and company networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a current research study done 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% actually actively use social media to connect with brands. Well first of all I would state that having a well enhanced website is still going to bring you far more service that social media in most cases specifically if you are a small to medium sized regional organisation since far more individuals are going to type in "hairdresser Port Macquarie" into a Social Media Agency 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 possible company. The primary factor most individuals give for connecting with brands or organisation on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and organisation themselves think the main factor people engage with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products.
