Social Media Marketing, Reality and Lies

Social Media Marketing appears to be the most recent buzz word for anyone aiming to increase their online presence and sales, but is Social Media Marketing (SMM) all it is cracked up to be?

S.M.M companies are now springing up all over the location these days and they are telling anybody that will listen about how extremely crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your business however, for the typical small to medium sized organisation, does marketing to social networks truly live up to all the buzz? Social media marketing business are all too happy to point out the positives of social media like how numerous people utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent out last year and how numerous people see YouTube videos etc. but are you getting the full picture? Being the research nut that I am, I chose to take a great look into SMM in regard to selling to see if it actually worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them?

As a web designer I was constantly (and now progressively) confronted with a number of social networking obstacles when potential clients would state that having a website sounds good however they had a Facebook business page and had been informed by various sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their needs it ended up being rather clear that those potential customers didn't in fact know why they required social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They just desired it. Well it's simple truly due to the fact that social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not service media and organisation 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 utilize social media to connect with brands.

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

Well first of all I would say that having actually a well optimized site is still going to bring you far more organisation that social media in the majority of cases especially if you are a small to medium sized regional organisation due to the fact that 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 out on all of that possible organisation. Despite all the (not so good) statistics I still think it is still a great idea for organisation to use social media just not in the same way that a lot of SMM experts are today, Why? Is it in a Social Media Marketing business's finest interest to talk social networks up?

One of the greatest problems organisation face with social networks and SMM is perception. The primary factor many people give for communicating with brands or business on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brand names and service themselves believe the main reason people interact with them on social media is to learn about brand-new items. A lot of services think social media will increase advocacy, but only 38 % of customers concur.

If they desire to see some sort of result from it, companies need to discover more ingenious methods to link with social media. There were some great initiatives shown in the IBM research study of SEO Agency business that had gotten some sort of a handle on how to use social media to their benefit, bearing in mind that when asked what they do when they connect with services or brand names through social media, consumers list "getting discount rates or vouchers" and "buying services and products" as the top two activities, respectively an USA ice cream business called Cold Stone Creamery provided discounts on their items on their Facebook page. Additionally there is a fantastic program introduced by Finest Purchases in the UNITED STATE called Twelpforce where employees can react to consumer's concerns through Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the advantage is plainly in the favour of the terrific trick & the potential consumer to social media marketing is to offer without attempting to offer (or appearing like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.

Building a concrete buyer to consumer relationship by means of social media is difficult and probably the most benefit to organisation' utilizing social media to improve their websites Google rankings. Service' need to comprehend that you cannot just setup a Facebook organisation 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 then you might improve results.

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 continuously (and now increasingly) challenged with a number of social networking challenges when possible clients would state that having a website sounds good however they had a Facebook company page and had actually 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 became quite clear that those prospective customers didn't actually understand why they needed social networks or SMM to produce online sales, They just desired it. Well it's easy really due to the fact that social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not company media and organisation networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent study done by the IBM Institute for Service 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% really purposefully utilize social media to interact with brand names. Well first of all I would state that having a well enhanced site is still going to bring you far more business that social media in a lot of cases especially if you are a little to medium sized local organisation 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 Website and if you don't have a site you're missing out on all of that possible company. The main reason most people offer for engaging with brands or service on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and organisation themselves think the primary reason individuals interact with them on social media is to learn about brand-new items.

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