Social media
marketing (SMM) is becoming a very important tool for any business, no matter
how big or small. SMM can be defined as business use of selected social media
channels to understand customers and engage them in communication and
collaboration in ways that lead to the achievement of ultimate marketing and
business goals (Roberts & Zahay, 2013) . “SMM is a true two-way conversation between a
company and its customers, prospective customers, and the world” (McAlister-Holand, 2012) . Using social media
marketing in your business will help you connect with customers on a completely
different level.
Why use Social Media Marketing?
With
over 1.5 billion people online worldwide, it is no shock why mixing social
media with your traditional marketing objectives is a good idea. Social media marketing
has a relatively low cost overall compared to traditional marketing efforts
such as flyers, billboards, postcards, and newspapers. Social media marketing
has been proven to (Roberts & Zahay, 2013) :
·
Generate
exposure
·
Increase
consumer traffic
·
Result
in new business partnerships
·
Rise
search rankings
·
Generate
qualified leads
·
Help
sell products and services
·
Reduce
overall marketing expenses
Social media has
allowed businesses to see how their customers actually feel about the product
or service they offer because of conversations online. Businesses are
encouraged to find, listen, and join the conversations of their current and
potential customers. Doing so will allow businesses to add commentary to
positive conversations and rebuttal negative ones in a professional manner. Listening
to your customer’s opinion is a great way to receive constructive criticism to
create better products or services in the future.
Social media
marketing allows business to establish a brand and raise awareness. “Since the
majority of the population is already visiting social media sites like
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, getting your brand name all over those networks
can help let people know that you're around” (Suto) .
It important to keep in mind to have it interesting enough that your target
audience wants to share the information. In turn, marketing on social media
will increase customer loyalty and website traffic.
Using social media
marketing is a great tool to increase your customer service since it is more
interactive. According to Wendy Suto, the use of social media sites allows
businesses to answer customers’ questions and concerns directly in a timely
manner. Customers appreciate when their questions and concerns are answered
quickly, thus improving overall customer satisfaction.
Different Social Media Sites
There are several
different social media sites that are great for marketing. Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, and LinkedIn are among the top contenders. With currently over one billion
active users, businesses can rest assured that using Facebook will help
establish a brand, raise awareness, and increase customer loyalty and trust.
Businesses can use Facebook to keep their followers up-to-date with current
events by posting flyers, images, and other necessary information. Facebook is
a great way to raise awareness of a product or service because it gets the word
out much faster than any direct mailing or poster. Also, people are more apt to
look at things on Facebook than they are via paper.
Twitter is another
popular social media site. The use of Twitter is a fast way to get information
out and it allows interaction between current and potential customers. Twitter
is also a great way for questions and concerns to be answered quickly, which
will ultimately increase customer satisfaction. It is furthermore a great
networking tool because it allows businesses to connect with people of whom
they may have never gotten the chance to had they not been on Twitter.
YouTube allows its
users to post videos of anything they desire. As a business, you can post promotional
videos of new products, commercials, and tutorials. It is a great way to show a
different side of your business because it is more interactive and involves
more customer involvement. If you create an interesting enough video, it could
go viral and increase your brand awareness. LinkedIn allows businesses to
connect with new and existing customers as well as connect with other
professionals in their field. It also lets businesses find potential employees
and read their profile to verify they are the right fit for the company.
LinkedIn is also good for sharing posts, research, advertising, and building
networks.
Measuring Social Media Marketing Success
Measuring the
success of social media marketing is quite simple compared to other ways of
marketing. Measurements of SMM are much faster and accurate because users have
to physically engage in your marketing campaign. Each social media site uses
different tools to help its user’s measure success. Facebook has a unique tool
called Facebook Insights. This tool allows users to understand and analyze
trends within user growth and demographics, consumption of content, and
creation of content, which in turn helps users become prepared to improve their
business and create better experiences on Facebook for their followers
(Insights).
Twitter has several
different tools that can help users measure their success. Some examples of
tools are twInfluences, Twitalyzer, and TweetEffect. TwInfluences allows users
to track how many followers are actually listening to their messages.
Twitalyzer allows users to analyze their account popularity and how many times
their messages have been referred to. TweetEffect helps users find how many
people are responding and reacting to their posts (How to Measure Twitter
Marketing Success, 2010).
Measuring
success on YouTube is ultimately shown by how many people have viewed the
video, as well as how many people have posted the video to their other social
media accounts. LinkedIn also has analytics that allow its users to track how
many people viewed their profile within a certain time frame. These analytics let
users see who looked at their profile and allows them to click onto their
profile as well.
All in all, I recommend
that every business, no matter how big or small, implement social media into
their marketing objectives. It is relatively low in cost and allows businesses
to connect with their customers on a completely different level. SMM helps a
business establish a brand and raise awareness, allows them to listen to their
customer’s opinion, brings attention to their product or service, and increases
overall customer satisfaction.
References
How to Measure Twitter Marketing Success. (2010, February 20). Retrieved November 14, 2012,
from Quick Online Tips:
http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2010/02/measure-twitter-marketing-success/
Insights. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21,
2012, from Facebook Developers: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/insights/
McAlister-Holand, D. (2012, September). Social Media
Marketing. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from EBSCO Host:
http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2db6f8e4-08fb-4622-8d4b-827f6d126187%40sessionmgr104&vid=13&hid=3
Roberts, M. L., & Zahay, D. (2013). Internet
Marketing. Mason: South-Western.
Suto, W. (n.d.). Top 14 Benefits of Social Media
Marketing for You and Your Business. Retrieved November 20, 2012, from
Article City: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_6587.shtml
