This is a trick question, so answer carefully:
Are you using social media for your business?
The answer should be YES. If you’re not using social media in your online marketing strategy yet, then you’re missing out on rich brand building and search engine optimization opportunities!
There is no doubt about it: Social media is now essential not just for personal networking purposes but also for business marketing and advertising purposes. 79% of the largest Fortune 500 companies use Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, blogs and other forms of social media to communicate with consumers (Burson-Marsteller, 2009), and 69% of surveyed businesses report significant benefits from social technology, including more effective marketing and higher revenues (McKinsey Global Survey, 2009).
So how come you’re not hopping on this marketing bandwagon?
1) Maybe you’re just confused about what social media is.
If so, this is a great definition that sums up what social media is: “Social media are works of user-created video, audio, text or multimedia that are published and shared in a social environment, such as a blog, wiki or video hosting site” (Capilanou University- Vancouver). In short, it’s any form of individually created media that “turns communication into interactive dialogue” (Wikipedia).
Social media may sound like social networking but the two are a bit different. A social network refers to a website a group of websites that enable people to keep contact with one another, and these sites don’t necessarily have specific subject or content produced by users—other than the interpersonal interactions themselves. Social media tends to provide some sort of content, whether informational, humorous, etc, that is intended for a more public consumption rather than personal.
2) Maybe you don’t know how to use social media.
Well, that’s all right! We’ll give you some tips on how to do this. It’s a lot easier than you would think, especially since your target market is already hanging out online, spending time, chatting with friends, making buying decisions, etc. Why not have some of those conversations revolve around your brand and business?
First, do some research to find out where your brand followers are interacting online, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn—or now, even Google+! If you work with other businesses or smaller businesses, then you should probably make connections on LinkedIn. If you’re a musician, MySpace is still the place to go, as well as Youtube. If your clientele mainly focuses on young working adults, then maybe Twitter is the place to be. As you’ll find, these days, everyone is on everything—the key is to find out where the majority of your target audience interacts.
Then, join the community—start participating in conversations online, or creating them on your own social media outlets. This can be done by creating content that people care about. Seems easier said than done, right?
The best way to begin is to develop your business goals and strategy: The best question to ask is most likely, how do you want to be perceived? Knowing first how you want to be perceived will help you lay out your social media parameters: based on how you want to be seen, you can determine where you want to be seen, by whom, and what you want them to do once they see you.
Which leads to the next question: What is the objective in this social media marketing? To promote your brand in general? A specific product/service? A particular promotion? The goal of your social media campaign will determine how you use it— for example, in one burst for a specific promotion or in steady streams for general brand awareness.
One good practice is to always look at how other businesses similar to yours are performing and what they are doing. It will give you an idea of where you should be going and suggestions for how to connect to your own audience.
Generally, the posts that are the most shared or liked are the informational, funny, or inspiring ones. Depending on your brand and your audience, you could probably do a mix of all three. Conduct some research to find out what appeals to your audience and write blog posts, or post updates/links to things related to your audience interests. If your followers are disinterested in what you say, they won’t make buying decisions affected by you.
3) Maybe you think it’s too time consuming or expensive.
Especially after talking about doing research and creating content, a lot of people worry that social media will become a time and effort consuming monster with little results to show for it, but that’s not the case at all. Even devoting one hour a day to updating your posts, checking out your followers and news streams can go a long way in maintaining a steady presence in the social media realm!
As for money, keep the end in mind. What are you planning to gain from social media and how much is it worth to you? Whether it’s a new client, brand ambassadors, a rebuilt reputation, or customer feedback, it should have a value assigned to it that is in line with your overall budget. In general, social media should not be expensive at all, especially considering that most of the platforms are FREE. It’s just a matter of how well you utilize it and how effectively you set and reach for your goals.
To sum it up, integrating social media into your online marketing strategy is simpler than you may think! First, scope the field—where is your audience congregating online? Then, just outline your vision and map out a strategy. Know what your brand is and what you want to gain from social media, and then create the content and generate the buzz that will surround it.
Just be sure to properly gauge whether social media management is something you can handle by yourself or if you need to outsource it to a social media strategist or even if one of your more creative employees can take on the responsibility. Social media shouldn’t be a chore but an enjoyable and necessary part of your entire marketing strategy. Have fun with it because that’s how you’ll really gain the followers.
How do you use your social media? What difficulties have you found? Any tips you have to give? Leave your comments here and share your wisdom/frustrations!