S.M.M business are now springing up all over the place these days and they are informing anyone that will listen about how exceptionally essential social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your service but, for the typical small to medium sized service, does marketing to social networks truly measure up to all the hype? Is spending a little fortune on working with a SMM business actually worth it? And has anybody truly done their research study on this before they worked with someone to establish there Facebook business page? Some SMM business are setting up things like Facebook service pages (which are complimentary) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their clients that they don't require a website because Facebook is the greatest social media network worldwide and everyone has a Facebook account. Now while it may be true that Facebook is the biggest social media in the world and yes, Facebook's members are prospective customers, the genuine question is are they really purchasing? Social media marketing business are all too happy to explain the positives of social media like the number of people utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent last year and how many individuals view YouTube videos and so on however are you getting the full photo? I when sat next to a SMM "specialist" at an organisation workshop who was spruiking to anyone who came within earshot about the amazing advantages of setting up a Facebook company page for small company (with him obviously) and selling on Facebook. Fascinated by the aforementioned "specialists" recommendations I looked him up on Facebook just to find he had only 11 Facebook friends (not a good start). So being the research study nut that I am, I chose to take a good look into SMM in regard to selling 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 heavily on socials media for sales?
As a web designer I was constantly (and now progressively) challenged with numerous social networking obstacles when possible customers would state that having a site sounds good however they had a Facebook company page and had been informed by various sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social networks were the important things to do, however after discussing their needs it ended up being rather clear that those prospective customers didn't actually know why they required social media networks or SMM to generate online sales, They simply wanted it. For small and medium sized business I constantly recommended building a quality site over any kind of social media network, why? Well it's simple actually since social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not service media and service networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). I know that sounds easy however it's 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 regardless of the variety of Facebook users and Google users being around the same, people don't utilize 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 organisation or products. They utilize it to communicate with friends and family or for news and entertainment. In a recent research study done by the IBM Institute for Company Worth around 55% of all social media users stated that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and just around 23% actually purposefully use social media to engage with brand names. Now from all the people who do utilize social media and who do interact with brand names whether purposefully or not, the bulk (66%) say 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 state that having a well optimized site is still going to bring you far more company that social media most of the times particularly if you are a little to medium sized regional service because far more people 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 Website and if you don't have a website you're losing out on all that potential service. Nevertheless despite all the (not so good) stats I still believe it is still a great idea for organisation to use social media just not in the same way that a lot of SMM specialists are today, Why? Due to the fact that it's clearly not working in the way they claim it does. Basically SMM Business and Service as a whole took a look at social media 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 because them a few equity capital companies have made financial investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft revealed that it had bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. Given that Facebook's modest beginnings up till now (2012) both SMM Companies and Service have failed to really capitalise on the big number of Facebook users online. The fact 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 best interests for people to think that business can offer en masse by advertising and marketing with them? Obviously it is. In early 2012, Facebook revealed that its revenues had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its income which is mainly from marketing had leapt nearly 90% to $3.71 billion so clearly the concept of SMM is working out for them however it is exercising for you? Well ... statistically no, however that does not necessarily mean that it never will.
I believe the major difference between socials media and online search engine is intent. Individuals who use Google are deliberately looking for something so if they do a look for hair stylists that's exactly what they are trying to find at that specific time. With something like Facebook the primary intent is usually to connect with family and friends. In October 2008, Mark Zuckerberg himself stated "I do not believe social media networks can be generated income from in the same way that search (Online search engine) did ... In 3 years from now we need to determine exactly what the maximum design is. That is not our main focus today". Among the greatest issues organisation confront with socials media and SMM is understanding. Inning accordance with the IBM Institute for Business Worth study there were "considerable spaces in between exactly what organisations believe customers appreciate and what consumers say they want from their social media interactions with companies." For example in today's society people are not just going to hand you over there recommendations, Facebook likes, comments or information without getting something back for it, so the old saying "exactly what remains in it for me?" comes into play. The main factor a lot of individuals provide for engaging with brands or service on social media is to get discounts, yet the brands and company themselves think the main factor individuals connect with them on social media is to find out about brand-new products. For brands and business getting discount rates just ranks 12th on their list of reasons that individuals connect with them. A lot of organisations think social media will increase advocacy, however just 38 % of customers agree.
If they desire to see some sort of result from it, companies need to find more ingenious methods to link with social media. There were some excellent efforts shown in the IBM study of companies that had gotten some sort of a manage on how to use social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that when asked exactly what they do when they interact with companies or brands by means of social media, customers note "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 discount rates on their items on their Facebook page. Alternatively there is a fantastic program launched by Best Purchases in the UNITED STATE called Twelpforce where staff members can react to consumer's questions through Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is clearly in the favour of the possible customer & the excellent technique to social media marketing is to sell without trying to sell (or appearing like your selling) regrettably most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Constructing a concrete buyer to customer relationship via social media is difficult and most likely the most benefit to service' utilizing social media to improve their sites Google rankings. However business' need to comprehend that you can't just setup a Facebook company page and wish for the best. SMM requires effort and prospective consumers need to see value in exactly what you have to provide via your social media efforts provide something worth their social interaction and time and then you might get better results.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have actually dropped to under SEO Agency $20 per share, that's half their initial rate ... and the suits are flying
As a web designer I was constantly (and now progressively) confronted with several social networking obstacles when prospective customers would state that having a website sounds excellent but they had a Facebook company page and had actually been informed by numerous sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their requirements it ended up being quite clear that those possible clients didn't actually know why they required social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They just desired it. Well it's basic really since 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 research study done by the IBM Institute for Business Value around 55% of all social media users specified that they do not engage with brands over social media at all and only around 23% in fact purposefully use social media to engage with brands. Well initially of all I would state that having a well enhanced site is still going to bring you far more company that social media in the majority of cases especially if you are a little to medium sized regional company since far more individuals 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 do not have a website you're missing out on out on all of that potential business. The primary factor the majority of people provide for engaging with brand names or company on social media is to get discount rates, yet the brand names and business themselves think the main factor individuals connect with them on social media is to discover about new items.
