It’s clear that social media marketing has grown dramatically over 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 entire population of the United States!
Its growth has been astronomical now, 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 surfers use a variety of social media marketing sites, with many visiting every day and most at least several times a week.” It’s no surprise that with the millions of prospective customers from everywhere using these sites, each day, that so many businesses have decided to include social media into their marketing mix. Nonetheless it also important to get a knowledge of how these sites are being used and what’s involved with maintaining or resourcing your business presence on these sites. Your web footprint can stick around for a long period so don’t underestimate how this may affect the perception of one’s brand on the market place. Spend time upfront thinking about whether social media marketing is right for your business.
1. Seek first to comprehend – It is crucial that you understand the fundamentals of how is social media actually works and how it’s being used. What exactly are people and businesses doing with social media marketing? What gets them results? Some of you may be thinking, how do I do this? Perchance you could consider trying it out for yourself by setting up an individual account, then testing some of the features, or get yourself a trusted friend showing you their account and guide you through. Alternatively there are so many resources and ‘how to’ items online about social media marketing, that you could run a search on Google or on YouTube on a specific topic of interest watching the video tutorials to obtain informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What is your purpose is for using social media marketing? What do you hope to achieve for your business by it? It’s really important that you identify your purpose so you can get involved in social media (or any other marketing activity for that matter). You need to workout why you are taking part. What do you expect to achieve? Do Social Media Marketing agency desire to build brand awareness, engage with your customers or identify new sales opportunities? Remember to be realistic about what you think you will be able to achieve.
3. If you decide to engage in social media marketing, which sites are best for you personally? – With the plethora of social media marketing sites available, those are best for your business? Consider where your target audience would socialize online, and think about the amount of time and resources you would realistically be able to invest in maintaining and administering your website presence. Which ones are right for you? You might find that some certainly are a better fit than others.
4. Quality Content – In the event that you decide that social media is right for your business, carefully consider the amount and quality of information you intend to share in the web sphere. Remember it will probably stay there for a long period, so you must make sure it accurate and reliable information that’s valuable to your market. It has to be relevant, otherwise people won’t read it.