It’s clear that social media marketing has grown dramatically during the last few years and that with an increase of than 800 million active users, the quantity of Facebook users is easily a lot more than twice the size of the complete population of america!
Its growth has been astronomical and today, millions of people are posting more personal and business information online than ever before. It’s happening at lightning speed with a large number of posts, tweets and uploads occurring every hour.
Recent research conducted by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) commissioned by Sensis Pty Ltd (May 2011, p. 10) indicates, that “62% of Australian Internet users use a variety of social media sites, with many visiting each day and most at least a few times a week.” It’s no surprise that with the millions of prospective customers from everywhere using these sites, every day, that so many businesses are determined to include social media into their marketing mix. Nonetheless it also important to get an understanding of how these sites are being used and what’s involved in maintaining or resourcing your business presence on these sites. Your web footprint can stick around for years so don’t underestimate how this may affect the perception of one’s brand available in the market place. Spend time upfront thinking about whether social media is right for the business.
1. Seek first to understand – It is crucial that you understand the basics of how is social media actually works and how it’s being used. What exactly are people and businesses doing with social media? What gets them results? A few of you may be thinking, how do you do this? Perhaps you could consider trying it out for yourself by setting up an individual account, then testing a few of the features, or get a trusted friend showing you their account and show you through. Alternatively there are so many resources and ‘how to’ items online about social media marketing, you could run a explore Google or on YouTube on a particular topic of interest and watch the video tutorials to obtain informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What’s your purpose is for using social media? What do you desire to achieve for your business by using it? It’s really important that you identify your purpose so you can get involved in social media (or any marketing activity for example). You need to workout why you are engaging. What do you be prepared to achieve? Do you simply desire to build brand awareness, build relationships your customers or identify new sales opportunities? Remember to be realistic about what you believe you will be able to accomplish.
3. If you decide to engage in social media marketing, which sites are best for you personally? – With the plethora of social media sites available, which ones are best for the business? Consider where your target audience would socialize online, and think about the period of time and resources you’ll realistically be able to invest in maintaining and administering your site presence. Those are right for you? You might find that some are a better fit than others.
4. Quality Content – In the event that you decide that social media marketing is right for the business, carefully consider the amount and quality of information you need to share in the web sphere. Remember it’ll probably stay there for a long period, so you need to make sure it accurate and reliable information that’s valuable to your market. Social Media Marketing firm must be relevant, otherwise people won’t read it.