Social Media Marketing, Truth and Lies
social media marketing definition
S.M.M publication rack now springing up in all places these days and they are telling anybody that will listen regarding how incredibly important social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube will your business but, for the average small to medium sized business, does marketing to internet sites really live up to all of the hype? Is spending a lot of money on hiring a SMM company well worth it? And has anyone really done their research about this before they hired you to definitely set up there Facebook business page? Some SMM organizations are setting up things like Facebook business pages (that are free) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their customers that they don't need an online site because Facebook may be the biggest social network in the world and everybody has a Facebook account. Now as it may be true that Facebook is the largest social network on the planet and yes, Facebook's members are potential consumers, the real question is are they actually buying? Social media companies are all too thrilled to point out the positives of social websites like how many people use Facebook or the amount of tweets were sent out last year and how many people watch YouTube videos etc. but you are you getting the full picture? I once sat next to a SMM "expert" in a business seminar who had previously been spruiking to anyone who came within earshot regarding the amazing benefits of starting a Facebook business page for small enterprise (with him obviously) and selling on Facebook. So, intrigued with the aforementioned "experts" advice I looked him through to Facebook only to find he only 11 Facebook friends (wii start). So being the research nut that I am, I decided to take a great look into SMM in regard to supplying see if it actually worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Facebook marketing work for them? And may business rely so heavily on social networking sites for sales?
As being a web developer I was constantly (and after this increasingly) confronted with several social network challenges when clients would say that using a website sounds good nonetheless they had a Facebook business page and had been told by various sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networking sites were the thing to do, but after discussing their demands it became quite clear that those potential clients didn't actually know why they needed social support systems or SMM to generate internet sales, They just wanted it. For medium and small sized business I always recommended building a quality website over any sort of social network, why? Well it is rather simple really because social websites is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not business media and business networks (that might be more like LinkedIn). I know that sounds simple but it is true and the statistics support it. The fact is that social media marketing ceases to tell you that Facebook can be a social network not a search engine and despite the quantity of Facebook users and Google users being throughout the same, people don't use Facebook in the same manner that they use a google search like Google (containing around half the various search engines market), Yahoo and Bing to search for business or products. They use it to keep touching family and friends or for news and entertainment. In a recent study produced by the IBM Institute for Business Value around 55% of social media users mentioned that they do not engage with brands over social networking at all and only around 23% actually purposefully use social websites to interact with brands. Now most of them . people who do use social networking and who do interact with brands whether purposefully you aren't, the majority (66%) say they must feel a company is communicating honestly before they'll interact.
So how do you use social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?
Well for starters I would say that using a well optimized website is still going to create for you far more business that social media in most cases especially if you can be a small to medium sized local business because far more people are going to type in "hairdresser Port Macquarie" into a search engine like Google, Yahoo and Bing in comparison with ever will on any Social websites Site and if there isn't a website you're missing out on all of that potential business. However despite each of the (not so good) statistics I still still find it still a good idea for business to utilize social media just not just as that a lot of SMM professionals are today, Why? Since it is clearly not working in terms they claim it does. Basically SMM Companies and Business overall looked at social networks like Facebook as being a fresh market ripe for the picking and when Facebook started getting users measured with the millions PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested US$500,000 for 7% in the company (in June 2004) and also, since them a few growth capital firms have made investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft announced which it had purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. However since Facebook's humble beginnings had been (2012) both SMM Companies and Business have not to truly capitalise on the huge number of Facebook users online. The fact remains numbers does not equal buyers. Would it be in a Social Media Marketing company's best interest to talk social networks up? Absolutely. Is it in a Social Network like Facebook's interests for people to believe that companies can market en masse by advertising and marketing with them? Of course it really is. In early 2012, Facebook disclosed that its profits had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its revenue generally from advertising had jumped almost 90% to $3.71 billion so clearly the concept of SMM is working out for them but it is working out to suit your needs? Well... statistically no, however that does not necessarily mean that it never will.
I believe the major difference between social networks and search engines is intent. People who use Google are deliberately seeking something so if they actually do a search for hairdressers that is what they are looking for at that particular time. With similar to Facebook the primary intent should be to connect with friends and family. In October 2008, Mark Zuckerberg himself said "I don't even think social networks can be monetized just as that search (Search Engines) did... In 3 years from now we have to determine what the optimum model is. That's not our primary focus today". One of the greatest problems business face with social networks and SMM is perception. Based on the IBM Institute for Business Value study there are "significant gaps between what businesses think consumers care about and what consumers say they really want from their social media interactions with companies." For example in today's society everyone is not just going to hand you over there recommendations, Facebook likes, comments or details without getting something back correctly, so the old adage "what's inside it for me?" is needed. So the primary reason a lot of people give for getting together with brands or business on social media is to receive discounts, yet the brands and business themselves think the reason people interact with them on social networking is to learn about new items. For brands and business receiving discounts only ranks 12th on their own list of reasons why people talk with them. Most businesses believe social media marketing will increase advocacy, however only 38 % of consumers agree.
Companies need to find more innovative approaches to connect with social media whenever they want to see some sort of result from it. There were the right initiatives shown within the IBM study of companies that had gotten some type of a handle concerning how to use social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that whenever asked what they do after they interact with businesses or brands via social networking, consumers list "getting discounts or coupons" and "purchasing products and services" because top two activities, respectively a U.S ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery offered discounts on the products on their Facebook page. Alternatively there is a great program launched by Best Buys in the U.S called Twelpforce where employees can react to customer's questions via Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is clearly in the favour of the potential client & the great trick to social internet marketing is to sell without selling (or looking like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Developing a tangible buyer to consumer relationship via social websites is not easy and probably essentially the most benefit to business' using social websites to boost their websites Google rankings. But business' need to understand that you can't just setup a Facebook business page and hope all went well. SMM requires effort and potential prospects need to see value with what you have to offer via your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time and then you may get better results.
S.M.M publication rack now springing up in all places these days and they are telling anybody that will listen regarding how incredibly important social media like Facebook twitter and YouTube will your business but, for the average small to medium sized business, does marketing to internet sites really live up to all of the hype? Is spending a lot of money on hiring a SMM company well worth it? And has anyone really done their research about this before they hired you to definitely set up there Facebook business page? Some SMM organizations are setting up things like Facebook business pages (that are free) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their customers that they don't need an online site because Facebook may be the biggest social network in the world and everybody has a Facebook account. Now as it may be true that Facebook is the largest social network on the planet and yes, Facebook's members are potential consumers, the real question is are they actually buying? Social media companies are all too thrilled to point out the positives of social websites like how many people use Facebook or the amount of tweets were sent out last year and how many people watch YouTube videos etc. but you are you getting the full picture? I once sat next to a SMM "expert" in a business seminar who had previously been spruiking to anyone who came within earshot regarding the amazing benefits of starting a Facebook business page for small enterprise (with him obviously) and selling on Facebook. So, intrigued with the aforementioned "experts" advice I looked him through to Facebook only to find he only 11 Facebook friends (wii start). So being the research nut that I am, I decided to take a great look into SMM in regard to supplying see if it actually worked, who did it work for and if it did why did Facebook marketing work for them? And may business rely so heavily on social networking sites for sales?
As being a web developer I was constantly (and after this increasingly) confronted with several social network challenges when clients would say that using a website sounds good nonetheless they had a Facebook business page and had been told by various sources (the ever present yet anonymous "they") that social networking sites were the thing to do, but after discussing their demands it became quite clear that those potential clients didn't actually know why they needed social support systems or SMM to generate internet sales, They just wanted it. For medium and small sized business I always recommended building a quality website over any sort of social network, why? Well it is rather simple really because social websites is Social Media, and social Networks are Social Networks they are not business media and business networks (that might be more like LinkedIn). I know that sounds simple but it is true and the statistics support it. The fact is that social media marketing ceases to tell you that Facebook can be a social network not a search engine and despite the quantity of Facebook users and Google users being throughout the same, people don't use Facebook in the same manner that they use a google search like Google (containing around half the various search engines market), Yahoo and Bing to search for business or products. They use it to keep touching family and friends or for news and entertainment. In a recent study produced by the IBM Institute for Business Value around 55% of social media users mentioned that they do not engage with brands over social networking at all and only around 23% actually purposefully use social websites to interact with brands. Now most of them . people who do use social networking and who do interact with brands whether purposefully you aren't, the majority (66%) say they must feel a company is communicating honestly before they'll interact.
So how do you use social media marketing? And is it even worth doing?
Well for starters I would say that using a well optimized website is still going to create for you far more business that social media in most cases especially if you can be a small to medium sized local business because far more people are going to type in "hairdresser Port Macquarie" into a search engine like Google, Yahoo and Bing in comparison with ever will on any Social websites Site and if there isn't a website you're missing out on all of that potential business. However despite each of the (not so good) statistics I still still find it still a good idea for business to utilize social media just not just as that a lot of SMM professionals are today, Why? Since it is clearly not working in terms they claim it does. Basically SMM Companies and Business overall looked at social networks like Facebook as being a fresh market ripe for the picking and when Facebook started getting users measured with the millions PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested US$500,000 for 7% in the company (in June 2004) and also, since them a few growth capital firms have made investments into Facebook and in October 2007, Microsoft announced which it had purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. However since Facebook's humble beginnings had been (2012) both SMM Companies and Business have not to truly capitalise on the huge number of Facebook users online. The fact remains numbers does not equal buyers. Would it be in a Social Media Marketing company's best interest to talk social networks up? Absolutely. Is it in a Social Network like Facebook's interests for people to believe that companies can market en masse by advertising and marketing with them? Of course it really is. In early 2012, Facebook disclosed that its profits had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year as its revenue generally from advertising had jumped almost 90% to $3.71 billion so clearly the concept of SMM is working out for them but it is working out to suit your needs? Well... statistically no, however that does not necessarily mean that it never will.
I believe the major difference between social networks and search engines is intent. People who use Google are deliberately seeking something so if they actually do a search for hairdressers that is what they are looking for at that particular time. With similar to Facebook the primary intent should be to connect with friends and family. In October 2008, Mark Zuckerberg himself said "I don't even think social networks can be monetized just as that search (Search Engines) did... In 3 years from now we have to determine what the optimum model is. That's not our primary focus today". One of the greatest problems business face with social networks and SMM is perception. Based on the IBM Institute for Business Value study there are "significant gaps between what businesses think consumers care about and what consumers say they really want from their social media interactions with companies." For example in today's society everyone is not just going to hand you over there recommendations, Facebook likes, comments or details without getting something back correctly, so the old adage "what's inside it for me?" is needed. So the primary reason a lot of people give for getting together with brands or business on social media is to receive discounts, yet the brands and business themselves think the reason people interact with them on social networking is to learn about new items. For brands and business receiving discounts only ranks 12th on their own list of reasons why people talk with them. Most businesses believe social media marketing will increase advocacy, however only 38 % of consumers agree.
Companies need to find more innovative approaches to connect with social media whenever they want to see some sort of result from it. There were the right initiatives shown within the IBM study of companies that had gotten some type of a handle concerning how to use social media to their advantage, keeping in mind that whenever asked what they do after they interact with businesses or brands via social networking, consumers list "getting discounts or coupons" and "purchasing products and services" because top two activities, respectively a U.S ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery offered discounts on the products on their Facebook page. Alternatively there is a great program launched by Best Buys in the U.S called Twelpforce where employees can react to customer's questions via Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce the benefit is clearly in the favour of the potential client & the great trick to social internet marketing is to sell without selling (or looking like your selling) unfortunately most social media marketing is focused the wrong way.
Developing a tangible buyer to consumer relationship via social websites is not easy and probably essentially the most benefit to business' using social websites to boost their websites Google rankings. But business' need to understand that you can't just setup a Facebook business page and hope all went well. SMM requires effort and potential prospects need to see value with what you have to offer via your social media efforts give them something worth their social interaction and time and then you may get better results.