Welcome to the first article in a twelve part series on Social Media Marketing. In each post, you will learn valuable information on how you can take full advantage of everything that social media has to offer your business.
Social Media is a big buzz phrase these days, we hear it and see it everywhere. It’s in the news, on the radio and even mixed in with our favorite television programs. The world is becoming more socially interactive every day. If you aren’t using social media marketing for your business it’s time to start, because if you keep ignoring it your competitors are going to leave you in the dust.
Social media marketing is a phrase that’s used to describe marketing techniques used on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more recently Pinterest and Instagram.
This method of marketing online has become increasingly popular over the last few years and is fast becoming the go to method for any business that wants to quickly build their brand, attract a never-ending supply of new customers and increase their profits substantially.
What makes this type of marketing so powerful is that it allows businesses to interact with consumers on a personal level. This type of connection makes it possible for them to build a solid relationship based on the marketing principle of Know, Like & Trust (KLT), which translates into; if they Know you, Like you and Trust you they will buy from you or do business with you.
It holds other benefits as well including giving business owners the ability to tap into the wants and needs of their consumers as well as gain valuable information about their marketplace.
From a consumer’s point of view, it makes the business more real and approachable by allowing an open line of communication where they can ask questions and receive answers.
Many business owners ignore social media marketing because they don’t realize how powerful it can be. Others don’t fully understand how it works and some just think it’s complicated, confusing and not worth their time.
If you fall into one of those categories it’s time to change the way you feel about social media marketing.
Here are few startling social media statistics that might help change your mind:
- The average consumer spends a whopping 16 minutes out of each hour of their lives on some type of social network and they are much more likely to interact with you there rather than any other method, including the telephone.
- Facebook over 1 billion monthly users and is the number one network for sharing content. Of those users, about 75% of them access this social network from their phones. If you want people to spread the word about your business this is the place you should be.
- Twitter has over 328 million active monthly users with the fastest growing demographic between the ages of 55 to 64. If you are customers fall into this category then this is where you’ll find them.
- YouTube reaches more US adults between the ages of 18 and 34 than any cable network. If this is your consumer demographic, you’ll find them there and setting up a YouTube channel is free. Compare that to producing a local commercial and you’ll see the benefit.
The benefits social media marketing holds for your business are virtually endless and contrary to popular belief, it’s not as difficult as you may think. You don’t have to hire an expensive marketing firm or social marketing specialist to start using this powerful platform for your business.
All you have to do is start engaging with your consumers on the more popular social networks. It can be as simple as setting up a profile on Facebook and Twitter, then start posting.
