As I’m sure you’ve already discovered, it now takes more than your typical newspaper ad, radio spot and networking meeting to get the sales you used to get.
Why? Because the dynamics of the market have changed. Consumers are better educated and have more choices than ever before. In addition, there are fewer buyers out there and more intense competition from everywhere to capture their business.
It seems as though the worldwide recession changed the rules of marketing. Companies are now finding that the marketing tools and techniques considered valuable and effective just a few years ago, are no longer bringing in the sales they once were.
More and more companies are seeking out low cost "guerrilla" marketing techniques that they can implement quickly and easily. Social media is an easy and affordable way to do just that if you have the strategies in place.
But social media marketing is very different than traditional marketing methods. Don’t think for one minute that just because you have an in-house marketing staff or outside agencies handling your public relations, creating brochures or managing your ad campaigns that they automatically know how to create and manage your social media marketing efforts.
Social media marketing and traditional forms of marketing require different skill sets and strategies. Don’t assume that just because your agency can write great copy, and are whiz-kids when it comes to search engine optimization or creating websites that they can handle your social media marketing efforts.
I am often asked, "I don't get how I can use social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to help my business." To help you get your "creative juices flowing, " I have listed 20 different ways that social media marketing can help your business. Future articles will go into more depth on how to get achieve resutls.
The Top 20 Business Reasons to Use Social Media Marketing
- Improve customer and prospect relationships
- Conduct inexpensive yet effective market research
- Build brand awareness, authority and credibility
- Drive traffic to your website
- Ability to obtain insight into targeted niche markets
- Find new distribution channels
- Improve search engine rankings through link building
- Find and research targeted decision makers, prospects, customers and contacts
- Monitor reputation - what are people saying about you or your company
- Attain expert status for you, your company or your brand
- An effective form of communicating with past, present and future clients
- Share information used to educate prospects
- Spy on your competition
- Provides increased visibility for you, your products or your brand
- Generate more leads
- Get more referrals
- Find joint venture partners
- A new vehicle to post PR, events and articles
- Provide better customer service
- And of course - INCREASE SALES!
As President of Street Smart Sales and Marketing, David Carleton specializes in helping companies spend less and get more from their marketing and advertising using low cost guerrilla tactics in lead generation and social media marketing. For more information and resources about social media, go to http://www.ExpertsInSocialMedia.com
Comments
Great article.
The most important aspect of social media marketing for any company is to keep in mind that social media serves as a platform to interact and communicate with the individuals that actually live through their brands.
Adam Lauer | AgencyNet
www.ANidea.com
twitter: at0m611
Nice post...it draws a clear distinction between old and new media while covering the full gamete of social media benefits. Thanks David.
Mike Myatt
on Twitter: @mikemyatt
Blog: www.n2growth.com/blog
Hi, Gary,
This post is great as it really hits home about the power of social media in today's business climate. I think it's important to also point out that although social media is helpful, it's really just a tool for generating recommendations and sustainable buzz around a brand. There has to be a larger strategy and purpose behind the conversation and how people share information. I think we often get so excited about the newest 'toy' that we forget the larger picture. It really comes down to understanding word of mouth (something our CEO has gained a lot of traction with as President-elect of WOMMA). Thanks for the post.
Leah Bassett
www.zocalogroup.com
lbassett@zocalogroup.com
@BassettL
Sorry about calling you Gary! The holiday weekend must already be here!
Thanks, DAVID!
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