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!
Personal Development has been astronomical and today, thousands of people are posting more personal and business information online than ever before. It’s happening at lightning speed with thousands 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 every day and most at least several times a week.” It’s no real surprise that with the an incredible number of prospective customers from around the globe using these sites, each 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 with maintaining or resourcing your organization presence on these sites. Your web footprint can stick around for a long time so don’t underestimate how this can affect the perception of one’s brand available in the market place. Spend time upfront thinking about whether social media is right for your business.
1. Seek first to comprehend – It is very important that you understand the basics of how is social media really works and how it’s being used. What exactly are people and businesses doing with social media marketing? What gets them results? A few of you may be thinking, how do you do this? Perchance you could consider trying it out on your own by setting up a personal account, then testing a few of the features, or get a trusted friend to show 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 search on Google or on YouTube on a specific topic of interest watching the video tutorials to get informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What is your purpose is for using social media marketing? 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 that matter). You need to work out why you are engaging. What do you expect to achieve? Do you simply want to build brand awareness, build relationships your visitors or identify new sales opportunities? Be sure you be realistic about what you think you will be able to accomplish.
3. If you decide to take part 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? Think about where your market would socialize online, and think about the period of time and resources you’ll realistically be able to invest in maintaining and administering your website presence. Those are right for you? You will probably find that some are a better fit than others.
4. Quality Content – If you decide that social media marketing is right for your business, carefully think about the amount and quality of information you would like to share in the online sphere. Remember it will probably stay there for a long period, so you must make sure it accurate and reliable information that is valuable to your market. It has to be relevant, otherwise people will not read it.
