SMM – Social Media Marketing. The process of gaining website traffic or attention
through social media sites. This is the electronic “word of mouth” that sells
products, promotes brands and drives company recognition. This form of
marketing usually centers on creating content that attracts attention and
encourages those readers to share, share and share more. When that underlying
message spreads like wild fire it is trusted to come from others rather than
from the company of brand itself. This is earned, organic and not paid media
marketing. In fact, 92% of consumers say they
trust earned media, such as social media, word of mouth, recommendation from
friends and family, above all other forms of advertising (Petersen, 2013).
Most marketers
understand the importance of social media. The question is which ones are best
for your company or brand?
source: Jamie
Turner the 60Sec Marketer
Facebook – Connect
with friends around the world. Post, Like and share what’s on your mind.
Strengths: Widely adopted by large
segments of population. This is great platform for brand recognition and for
promoting a new products or sales. Excellent psychographics techniques. You have control who views posts.
Weakness: An older generation adopting is
scaring younger away. Not the best for B2B
Google+ – The second-largest social media site with a monthly active user base of 235
million. Google products built into the platform, such as Hangouts and
Communities.
Strengths: Easy to use, uncluttered
environment. Interconnected with other Google products.
Weakness: Competition from other
well-established platforms. Beginning to add level of personalization but falls
behind the demographics of Facebook
LinkedIn – A
Social site for professionals to network and gain knowledge.
Strengths: Most people have already
adapted. Great spotlight for businesses to attract individuals. Excellent
content location opportunity.
Weakness:
Once profile is uploaded return visitation is infrequent.
Twitter – A social networking that enables
users to send and read 140-character messages called "tweets"
Strengths: Widely adopted. Great for
launching events. Moment-to moment updates as things unfold in real-time. Limited
to 140 characters forces message to be memorable to audience with short
attention span.
Weakness: Limited to 140 characters. Need
to compress your messaging to ensure it is memorable. Lack of control
over channels. No decision as to who sees your tweet. Large follower dropoff
rate.
YouTube – A
video sharing website.
Strengths: Video based marketing. Perfect
launching ground for new tools, techniques or how to’s. A visually appealing
way to share information. Great opportunity to get your content in front of
millions.
Weakness: A cluttered environment that
can confuse some visitors. Keep videos short and sweet. Lack of control over
channels. No decision as to who sees your video.
Pinterest – An
image sharing website.
Strengths: Photos show off products.
Content spreads quickly
Weakness: Important to keep brand image “look
and feel” consistent. Followers are mostly women.
There are so many platforms to choose from and more
being added every day. If you have the money and the budget you can begin
integrating all of them and even hire a social media expert to stay on top of
it for you. However many of us don’t have that kind of budget. We need to focus
our efforts on what will make the most impact. Concentrate on implementing
strategies that deliver high ROI.
Ultimately the end goal for a business is to make
the sale. Choosing which platform to use may have more to do with your product
or service and your level of comfort, than a right or wrong option. Retail companies
can use Facebook to sell items and try to engage with customers. Unlike Google,
Facebook’s platform includes psychographic information including personality,
lifestyles, interests, thus allowing you to target specific populations. Google+
is great for businesses to be found because of its integration with other
Google products. LinkedIn and YouTube are often considered superior social
platforms when it comes to B2B business.
"It takes only minutes to install an ecommerce
app on your Facebook page, but it takes much longer to build your channel to a
point where people are engaging with you. Companies that make sure their
consumers or audiences are engaged tend to have more success” (Beal,
2013).
What’s important is building
a relationship. Understanding your customer and where they are will help you to
narrow down which platforms to spend your time and money. A website is not
enough. “Dan Golden, chief search artist
and president of Chicago-based digital marketing firm Be
Found Online, believes it’s important for all businesses to have
a presence on both Facebook and Google” (Guauer,2014).
Using multiple platforms and adding a digital
strategy to your traditional marketing plan will strengthen communication with
your customers and add additional contact points. Online platforms can add
value, enhance your brand and position your business against your competition.
Communicate frequently, not just when there is a sale. Holding special events
or offering customer rewards can give you more opportunity to communicate and
reason for your customers to listen. Frequency isn’t enough, content matters. Each
piece of content you share on social media should be worth sharing. Encourage
interaction and feedback. This will build trust and make your customers feel
they have been “heard.”
Don’t forget to pay attention to the effectiveness
of your online efforts. Carefully review your performance over time. All this
will effort will create a greater opportunity for success and give you a
competitive edge. Be consistent and continue to craft content and posts
specifically designed with your target market in mind.
Adding a social media relationship into your
marketing mix will not replace your traditional marketing strategy but instead
amplify it. If you are thinking that a few blog posts, random status updates,
and a healthy number of "followers" and "likes" are going
to magically grow your business, don't count on it. Keep building relationships
and hunker down for the long-haul.
References:
Beal, Vangie.
(Dec2013). How to Sell on Facebook: Promote, Personalize and Engage. CIO.
Retrieved from: http://www.cio.com/article/2380262/online-marketing/how-to-sell-on-facebook--promote--personalize-and-engage.html.
Grauer, Y. (March2014). Get the most bang for
your buck. Retrieved from: http://www.verticalresponse.com/blog/get-the-most-bang-for-your-buck-google-adwords-vs-facebook-ads
Petersen, R. (Sept
2013) 38 Surprising Facts about Trust in Social Media. BarnRaiser. Retrieved from: http://barnraisersllc.com/2013/09/surprising-facts-trust-social-media/
Turner, J. (2010) 60 Sec Marketer. Retrieved from: http://60secondmarketer.com/blog/2010/04/09/top-52-social-media-platforms/
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