S.M.M companies are now springing up all over the place these days and they are telling anybody that will listen about how extremely crucial social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube are to your organisation however, for the typical little to medium sized business, does marketing to social networks actually measure up to all the buzz? Is investing a little fortune on employing a SMM company really worth it? And has anyone actually done their research on this before they hired somebody to establish there Facebook organisation page? Some SMM companies are setting up things like Facebook organisation pages (which are complimentary) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their clients that they do not require a site due to the fact that Facebook is the biggest social media on the planet and everyone has a Facebook account. Now while it might hold 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 really purchasing? Social media marketing business are all too delighted to mention the positives of social media like the number of people utilize Facebook or how many tweets were sent in 2015 and the number of people watch YouTube videos and so on but are you getting the complete photo? I once sat beside a SMM "professional" at a business workshop who was spruiking to anyone who came within earshot about the fantastic advantages of setting up a Facebook organisation page for small company (with him obviously) and selling on Facebook. Interested by the aforementioned "specialists" guidance I looked him up on Facebook just to discover he had only 11 Facebook friends (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 really worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Social Media Marketing work for them? And should company rely so greatly on social media networks for sales?
As a web developer I was continuously (and now progressively) challenged with a number of social networking challenges when possible clients would state that having a website sounds excellent but they had a Facebook business page and had actually been told by numerous sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social media networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their needs it ended up being quite clear that those prospective customers didn't really understand why they needed socials media or SMM to generate online sales, They simply wanted it. For little and medium sized service I always suggested building a quality site over any type of social media, why? Well it's easy really due to the fact that social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not service media and service networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). I know that sounds basic however it's true and the data back it up. The fact is that social media marketing cannot tell you that Facebook is a social media not a search engine and in spite of the number of Facebook users and Google users being around the exact same, people do not 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 service or products. They use it to correspond with family and friends or for news and home entertainment. In a recent research study done by the IBM Institute for Organisation 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% really purposefully utilize social media to interact with brand names. Now out of 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 company is communicating truthfully before they will engage.
So how do you utilize social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?
Well firstly I would say that having a well enhanced website is still going to bring you much more organisation that social media in many cases specifically if you are a little to medium sized local organisation because even more people are going to key 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 site you're missing out on all that potential company. Despite all the (not so great) stats I still believe it is still an excellent concept for service to use social media simply not in the very same method that a lot of SMM experts are today, Why? Since it's clearly not working in the method they claim it does. Essentially SMM Business and Company as a whole looked at social networks like Facebook as a fresh market ripe for the picking when Facebook began getting users determined by the millions PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested US$ 500,000 for 7% of the business (in June 2004) and since them a few venture capital firms have actually made financial investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft revealed that it had bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. Nevertheless since Facebook's humble beginnings up previously (2012) both SMM Business and Business have failed to really capitalise on the substantial variety of Facebook users online. The reality is numbers does not equivalent buyers. Is it in a Social Media Marketing business's benefit to talk socials media up? Absolutely. Is it in a Social Network like Facebook's best interests for people to believe that business can offer en masse by marketing and advertising with them? Naturally it is. In early 2012, Facebook divulged that its profits had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its profits which is primarily from marketing had leapt nearly 90% to $3.71 billion so plainly the principle of SMM is exercising for them however it is exercising for you? Well ... statistically no, however that does not necessarily mean that it never ever will.
One of the most significant problems organisation face with social networks and SMM is understanding. The main factor most individuals give for communicating with brands or organisation on social media is to get discount rates, yet the brands and business themselves believe the main reason individuals communicate with them on social media is to find out about brand-new items. Many businesses believe social media will increase advocacy, but just 38 % of consumers concur.
Business need to find more ingenious ways to get in touch with social media if they want to see some sort of arise from it. There were some good efforts displayed in the IBM research study of companies that had actually gotten some sort of a deal with on the best ways to use social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that when asked exactly what they do when they communicate with organisations or brands by means of social media, consumers note "getting discount rates or discount coupons" and "purchasing services and products" as the top 2 activities, respectively an U.S ice cream business called Cold Stone Creamery offered discounts on their products on their Facebook page. There is an excellent program introduced by Best Purchases in the U.S called Twelpforce where workers can respond to client's questions by means of Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is clearly in the favour of the fantastic trick & the potential client to social media marketing is to offer without trying to sell (or appearing like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Building a concrete purchaser to consumer relationship through social media is hard and most likely the most benefit to business' using social media to increase their sites Google rankings. Organisation' need to understand that you can't simply setup a Facebook business page and hope for the best. SMM requires effort and possible customers need to see worth in exactly what you need to provide through your social media efforts provide something worth their social interaction and time then you might get better results.
Now just as a footnote Facebook shares have actually dropped to under $20 per share, that's half their initial price ... and the suits are flying
As a web designer I was continuously (and now increasingly) faced with several social networking difficulties when potential clients would say that having a site sounds good but they had a Facebook organisation page and had actually been told by various sources (the ever present yet confidential "they") that social networks were the thing to do, however after discussing their requirements it became quite clear that those potential clients didn't really understand why they required social networks or SMM to generate online sales, They just wanted it. Well it's easy truly due to the fact that social media is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not organisation media and business networks (that would be more like LinkedIn). In a recent research study done by the IBM Institute for Organisation Value around 55% of all social media users specified that they do not engage with brands over social media at all and just around 23% in fact actively utilize social media to interact with brands. Well first of all I would state that having actually a well enhanced site is still going to bring you far more service that social media in the majority of cases especially if you are a small to medium sized regional service since far more individuals are going to type in "hair stylist Port Macquarie" into a search engine like Google, Yahoo and Social Media Agency Bing than they ever will on any Social Media Website and if you do not have a site you're missing out on out on all of that possible organisation. The main factor many people provide for engaging with brand names or business on social media is to receive discounts, yet the brands and service themselves believe the primary reason people communicate with them on social media is to discover about new items.
