Social Media Marketing, Reality and Lies

Social Media Marketing appears to be the latest buzz word for anybody planning to increase their online existence and sales, but is Social Media Marketing (SMM) all it is cracked up to be?

S.M.M business are now emerging all over the place these days and they are telling anybody that will listen about how exceptionally essential social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your company but, for the average small to medium sized organisation, does marketing to socials media actually measure up to all the hype? Is investing a little fortune on working with a SMM business truly worth it? And has anyone actually done their research study on this before they hired somebody to establish there Facebook company page? Some SMM companies are setting up things like Facebook organisation pages (which are totally free) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their clients that they don't need a site due to the fact that Facebook is the most significant social network worldwide and everyone has a Facebook account. Now while it may be true that Facebook is the biggest social media network in the world and yes, Facebook's members are possible consumers, the real concern is are they in fact purchasing? Social media marketing business are all too pleased to explain the positives of social media like how many individuals utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent out last year and how many people see YouTube videos and so on however are you getting the full image? I as soon as sat beside a SMM "expert" at an organisation seminar who was spruiking to anybody who came within earshot about the fantastic advantages of establishing a Facebook organisation page for small business (with him naturally) and selling on Facebook. So, interested by the aforementioned "specialists" recommendations I looked him up on Facebook just to find he had only 11 Facebook good friends (not an excellent start). So being the research nut that I am, I chose to take a great look into SMM in regard to offering to see if it actually worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them? And should service rely so greatly on social media networks for sales?

As a web developer I was continuously (and now progressively) confronted with numerous social networking difficulties when prospective customers would state that having a website sounds good but they had a Facebook company page and had been told by numerous sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that socials media were the important things to do, however after discussing their needs it became rather clear that those potential customers didn't actually understand why they needed socials media or SMM to produce online sales, They just desired it. For medium and little sized business I constantly advised developing a quality site over any kind of social network, why? Well it's easy really because 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). I understand that sounds easy but it holds true and the stats back it up. The reality is that social media marketing fails to inform you that Facebook is a social media network not a search engine and regardless of the variety of Facebook users and Google users being around the same, individuals don't utilize Facebook in the same way that they utilize a 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 current study done by the IBM Institute for Organisation 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% actually actively use social media to connect with brands. Now from all individuals who do use social media and who do engage with brands whether actively or not, the majority (66%) state they need to feel a business is communicating truthfully before they will engage.

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

Well initially of all I would state that having actually a well enhanced website is still going to bring you far more business that social media in many cases specifically if you are a little to medium sized regional business since 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 out on all of that possible organisation. Despite all the (not so good) 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? Is it in a Social Media Marketing company's best interest to talk social networks up?

One of the most significant issues company face with social networks and SMM is understanding. The primary reason most individuals provide for interacting with brand names or organisation on social media is to get discounts, yet the brands and business themselves believe the main factor people interact with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products. The majority of companies believe social media will increase advocacy, but just 38 % of customers agree.

There were some excellent efforts shown in the IBM research study of companies that had actually gotten some sort of a deal with on how to utilize social media to their benefit, keeping in mind that when asked what they do when they connect with organisations or brands by means of social media, customers list "getting discounts or vouchers" and "buying products and services" as the top two activities, respectively an U.S ice cream business called Cold Stone Creamery offered discount rates on their products on their Facebook page. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is plainly in the favour of the potential consumer & the excellent trick to social media marketing is to offer without trying to offer (or looking like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the incorrect method.

Building a concrete purchaser to customer relationship via social media is hard and most likely the most benefit to business' utilizing social media to enhance their sites Google rankings. Company' need to comprehend that you cannot simply setup a Facebook business page and hope for the finest. SMM needs effort and potential consumers have to see value in exactly what you have to offer through your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time then you might get better outcomes.

Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their original price ... and the lawsuits are flying


As a web developer I was constantly (and now increasingly) challenged with a number of social networking challenges when possible clients would state that having a website sounds excellent however they had a Facebook business page and had actually been told by various sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their requirements it became rather clear that those prospective clients didn't in fact understand why they required social networks or SMM to produce online sales, They just desired it. Well it's easy really since 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 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 actively utilize social media to interact with brand names. 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 particularly if you are a small to medium sized regional business since far more people are going to type in "hair stylist Elite Digital Marketing agency 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 out on all of that potential service. The primary factor most individuals give for connecting with brands or organisation on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and business themselves believe the main factor people engage with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products.

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