Social Media – Benefits of Tapping Social Media As a Marketing Tool
The social web, if used correctly, can be an important extension of your marketing efforts. Social media channels facilitate the submission of news, videos, photographs and podcasts, and the participation of users and people in general in the form of comments, discussions and votes. Today, there’s probably no faster route than social media to build a network of supporters for your business or brand.
The following are just a few reasons you should tap into social media for your business:
1. The Social Web is Where a Large Chunk of Your Consumers Are Hanging Out:
Internet marketing is gaining more and more popularity over traditional media, today. It helps to engage online communities, thus generating exposure for your business, traffic to your website, and sales. If you are not active on the social web, you will simply and surely lose out to competition.
2. Social Media Opens Up a World of Marketing Opportunities – Viral Marketing, FB Fan Pages, Contests, etc:
True to its name, “Viral Marketing Campaigns” spread your message and brand awareness like the flu virus on the social internet! Social Networking Sites like Facebook allow you to host FB Fan Pages, hold contests and post advertisements to promote your business. In fact, no social media marketing plan is considered complete without a Facebook marketing plan in place! Facebook is the world’s No. 1 social networking website.
3. You Can Easily Get a Feel of the Pulse of Your Consumers:
Social media is the modern-day miracle that researchers could only have dreamt of in the old days. Where in the pre-internet days it used to take a lot of painstaking research for marketers to gain insights into consumer behavioural patterns and feelings, today all the information marketers need is within easy reach and can be easily solicited with participation and interaction. Information gathered through social media can and should be applied through the entire marketing strategy, and this information gathering can start even before products are launched.
4. You Can Build a Valuable Channel of Feedback:
Today, consumer feedback is instantaneous on the social web. Active participation can help you get valuable feedback and make quick corrections and improvements with product features and services, wherever needed. This helps to bridge the gap between brand promise or customer expectation and actual experience.
5. You Can Directly Influence the Conversation About Your Brand:
There are programs available today that can literally let you know any time your brand is being talked about anywhere on the internet. This is a great way to monitor conversations, nip negative conversations in the bud immediately with clarifications, and just generally steer the conversation in a positive direction. If competitors are planting negative comments and thoughts, they can be openly taken to task.
6. You Can Influence Purchase Decisions By Addressing Individual Issues That May Arise:
Traditional media channels have no scope for reaching out to individuals. The social web allows you to iron out kinks in the “consideration” phase of the purchase funnel, on a one-to-one level!
7. You Can Influence Word-of-Mouth About Your Brand:
Word-of-mouth marketing is today becoming synonymous with digital conversations. The daily conversational exchange about companies, brands and services, over the internet, is pegged in the billions! There are already people out there talking about your company or services. So, you may as well join the conversation and have at least a certain level of influence on it.
So, as you can see, social media is taking the world by storm. And, if you haven’t jumped onto the bandwagon to market your products or services already, do so quickly, or you are likely to be left far behind!
