S.M.M companies are now emerging all over the place these days and they are telling anybody that will listen about how extremely important social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your business however, for the average small to medium sized organisation, does marketing to socials media actually live up to all the hype? Is investing a little fortune on hiring a SMM company actually worth it? And has anybody truly done their research on this prior to they employed someone to establish there Facebook company page? Some SMM companies are setting up things like Facebook organisation pages (which are complimentary) for $600 to $1,000 or more and informing their clients that they do not require a website because Facebook is the greatest social media network in the world and everyone has a Facebook account. Now while it might be true that Facebook is the biggest social media network in the world and yes, Facebook's members are potential customers, the genuine concern is are they really buying? Social media marketing companies are all too delighted to explain the positives of social media like how many individuals utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent out in 2015 and how many individuals enjoy YouTube videos etc. however are you getting the full picture? I as soon as sat beside a SMM "expert" at a business workshop who was spruiking to anyone who came within earshot about the amazing advantages of setting up a Facebook organisation page for small company (with him of course) and selling on Facebook. Intrigued by the aforementioned "specialists" suggestions I looked him up on Facebook only to discover he had just 11 Facebook buddies (not a good start). Being the research study nut that I am, I decided to take an excellent look into SMM in regard to selling to see if it in fact worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them? And should service rely so heavily on socials media for sales?
As a web developer I was continuously (and now progressively) challenged with a number of social networking challenges when prospective clients would say that having a site sounds good however they had a Facebook service page and had been told by different sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social media networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their requirements it became quite clear that those prospective clients didn't in fact know why they required social media networks or SMM to create online sales, They simply wanted it. For little and medium sized service I always suggested constructing a quality website over any type of social media network, why? Well it's simple truly because 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). I know that sounds basic but it's true and the stats back it up. The fact is that social media marketing fails to tell you that Facebook is a social media network not a search engine and in spite of the number of Facebook users and Google users being around the exact same, people don't utilize Facebook in the same way that they use an online search engine like Google (which has around half the search engine market), Yahoo and Bing to look for business or items. They use it to stay connected with friends and family or for news and home entertainment. In a recent 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 only around 23% in fact purposefully utilize social media to communicate with brand names. Now out of all the people who do utilize social media and who do interact with brand names whether purposefully or not, the majority (66%) state they need to feel a business is communicating truthfully before they will communicate.
So how do you utilize 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 company that social media in most cases especially if you are a small to medium sized regional company because 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 Website and if you don't have a site you're missing out on all of that potential service. Regardless of all the (not so good) stats I still think it is still a great concept for organisation to use social media just not in the very same way that a lot of SMM experts are today, Why? Is it in a Social Media Marketing company's finest interest to talk social networks up?
One of the greatest issues service face with social networks and SMM is perception. The primary reason most people offer for engaging with brand names or service on social media is to receive discounts, yet the brands and company themselves think the main reason individuals connect with them on social media is to find out about new products. Most businesses believe social media will increase advocacy, however just 38 % of customers agree.
Companies need to find more ingenious methods to get in touch with social media if they want to see some sort of result from it. There were some great initiatives shown in the IBM research study of business that had gotten some sort of a deal with on how to use social media to their benefit, remembering that when asked exactly what they do when they communicate with businesses or brands by means of social media, customers note "getting discounts or discount 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. There is a fantastic program launched by Best Purchases in the UNITED STATE called Twelpforce where workers can respond to consumer's concerns through Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce SEO Agency the benefit is plainly in the favour of the possible client & the great technique to social media marketing is to offer without attempting to sell (or looking like your selling) regrettably most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Developing a tangible purchaser to consumer relationship via social media is challenging and probably the most benefit to organisation' utilizing social media to increase their sites Google rankings. However business' have to understand that you can't simply setup a Facebook company page and hope for the very best. SMM needs effort and potential consumers need to see value in exactly what you have to use through your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time then you may get better outcomes.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their initial cost ... and the claims are flying
As a web designer I was constantly (and now significantly) confronted with numerous social networking challenges when possible customers would say that having a site sounds great 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 thing to do, but after discussing their requirements it became rather clear that those potential customers didn't really know why they required social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They simply wanted 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 business media and organisation networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent research study done by the IBM Institute for Business Worth around 55% of all social media users specified that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and only around 23% actually actively use social media to connect with brands. Well initially of all I would say that having actually a well optimized site is still going to bring you far more business that social media in the majority of cases particularly if you are a little to medium sized local service because 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 prospective business. The main reason a lot of people provide for connecting with brands or organisation on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and company themselves believe the main factor people connect with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products.
