Social Media Marketing, Truth and Lies

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

S.M.M companies are now emerging all over the place these days and they are telling anyone that will listen about how exceptionally important social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your organisation however, for the typical little to medium sized business, does marketing to socials media really measure up to all the buzz? Is spending a little fortune on working with a SMM company actually worth it? And has anyone truly done their research study on this before they employed someone to establish there Facebook business page? Some SMM business are establishing things like Facebook company pages (which are complimentary) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their customers that they don't require a site because Facebook is the greatest social network on the planet and everyone has a Facebook account. Now while it may hold true that Facebook is the biggest social media network worldwide and yes, Facebook's members are potential customers, the real concern is are they actually buying? Social media marketing companies are all too pleased to point out the positives of social media like the number of individuals utilize Facebook or the number of tweets were sent in 2015 and the number of individuals watch YouTube videos etc. however are you getting the complete image? I once sat next to a SMM "specialist" at a service workshop who was spruiking to anybody who came within earshot about the fantastic advantages of establishing a Facebook business page for small company (with him of course) and selling on Facebook. Captivated by the aforementioned "experts" advice I looked him up on Facebook only to find he had only 11 Facebook friends (not a great start). So being the research study nut that I am, I chose to take an excellent check out 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? And should organisation rely so heavily on social networks for sales?

As a web developer I was constantly (and now significantly) challenged with a number of social networking difficulties when potential customers would state that having a site sounds great but they had a Facebook business page and had been told by different sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that socials media were the important things to do, however after discussing their requirements it ended up being quite clear that those potential clients didn't really know why they required socials media or SMM to create online sales, They simply wanted it. For small and medium sized business I constantly recommended developing a quality website over any type of social media network, why? Well it's easy truly 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). I understand that sounds basic however it holds true and the data back it up. The truth is that social media marketing cannot inform you that Facebook is a social network not an online search engine and despite the number of Facebook users and Google users being around the same, individuals do not use Facebook in the same way that they use an online 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 home entertainment. In a recent study done by the IBM Institute for Service Value 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% actually purposefully utilize social media to engage with brands. Now out of all individuals who do use social media and who do communicate with brands whether actively or not, the majority (66%) say they have to feel a company is interacting honestly prior to they will connect.

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

Well initially 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 the majority of cases especially if you are a little to medium sized local service 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 do not have a website you're missing out on out on all of that potential service. Despite all the (not so great) data I still think it is still a good idea for organisation to utilize social media simply not in the 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 factor many individuals provide for connecting with brands or organisation on social media is to receive discount rates, yet the brands and service themselves think the primary factor people connect with them on social media is to learn about brand-new products. A lot of businesses believe social media will increase advocacy, however just 38 % of customers agree.

There were some good initiatives shown in the IBM research study of business that had actually gotten some sort of a handle on how to use social media to their benefit, keeping in mind that when asked exactly what they do when they connect with businesses or brands through social media, customers note "getting discount rates or vouchers" and "acquiring products and services" as the top two activities, respectively a UNITED STATE ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery provided discount rates on their items on their Facebook page. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the advantage is plainly in the favour of the great trick & the potential client to social media marketing is to sell without trying to sell (or looking like your selling) sadly most social media marketing is focused the incorrect method.

Developing a concrete purchaser to customer relationship through social media is challenging and most likely the most benefit to organisation' utilizing social media to enhance their sites Google rankings. Service' require to comprehend that you cannot just setup a Facebook company page and hope for the best. SMM requires effort and potential customers need to see value in exactly what you need to use by means of your social media efforts provide something worth their social interaction and time and after that you may get better results.

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


As a web designer I was constantly (and now increasingly) confronted with numerous social networking obstacles when possible customers would state that having a website sounds good but they had a Facebook organisation page and had actually been informed by different sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networks were the thing to do, but after discussing their needs it ended up being rather clear that those prospective clients didn't actually know why they required social networks or SMM to create online sales, They just wanted it. Well it's simple actually due to the fact that social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not service media and company networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent research study done by the IBM Institute for Company Value around 55% of all social media users stated that they do not engage with brand names over social media at all and just around 23% really purposefully utilize social media to engage with brand names. Well first of all I would state that having actually a well optimized site is Logan Williams SEO still going to bring you far more company that social media in many cases especially if you are a little to medium sized local company 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 Site and if you do not have a site you're missing out on all of that possible service. The primary reason the majority of people give for connecting with brands or business on social media is to get discount rates, yet the brands and organisation themselves believe the main factor people interact with them on social media is to find out about new products.

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