An Ad agency client asked me the other day to provide them the
primary reason why their clients should use Social Media as part of their
advertising mix. Specifically they were talking about Facebook, Twitter and
Angieslist. The answer to this question is often confusing and misstated. This
article provides six concise reasons why Social Media is so important
today. Reading this article will make it
easy for the reader to see why Social Media has risen so quickly in advertising
circles and it will help them prosper from using it. Here are a few reasons why they should use Social
Media as part of their marketing mix.
1. Word of Mouth is Number
One!
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| Word of Mouth - Visualized (Photo credit: mvellandi) |
2. Social
Media provides a Huge Number of Potential Prospects!
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| 1.4 Billion Reasons presentation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
3. You
can get Psycho-graphic as well as Demographic Information on your Target Market!
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| A segment of a social network (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Also you can target someone via who they
are connected to. When a person likes your page, their friends will see them
listed as liking your page when your ad is running during your pay per click
campaign. Thus your ad is displayed to matching profiles and appears as being
endorsed by their friends at the same time. In other words their friends will
appear to be providing a tacit endorsement of your product/service. Their
friends will be perceived as saying that they like your products! This only
occurs when you’re engaged in pay per click ad and or story ad campaigns.
4. Social
Media Provides Real Client Engagement, no other Media does this so Well.
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| Social Media Brand Engagement Curve (Photo credit: Intersection Consulting) |
It's a great way to engage your clients and
prospects. No other media has a way of directly communicating with clients.
When a customer makes a comment on one of your posts, you can quickly speak
directly to them by answering or commenting on their post. You can even see if
they are online and invite them to chat with you. There are other chat and
direct response services out there that can help provide this kind of
interaction, but few are free to use and are not part of the built in culture
of Social Networks.
5.
Social Media Provides Back-link Support for
your SEO Efforts.
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| exchange-links (Photo credit: vaXzine) |
6.
Using Social Media is a Great Way to Provide a
Subtle Form of Touch Marketing.
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| Atari Game 1980 |
There is no question that if you stay in
contact with your clients on a regular basis with helpful tips and useful
information they would learn to look forward to your communications with them. If
you are providing useful, interesting, funny or entertaining messages via your
post, clients and prospects will pay attention. This type of interaction builds
trust over time. It will also allow you to sneak in an occasional subtle
commercial without ruffling your follower’s feathers. After a short period of
time you will be able to provide direct response mail offering your current
specials without being added to the spam list. If you respect your follower’s
time, interests and privacy by providing them with useful information that they
care about, they will reward you by staying engaged with your company.
I don't want to
oversimplify why Social Media marketing is so powerful. I also don't want to
imply that it's easy, because it's very labor intensive. Having said this, its
common knowledge that word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising
there is. Social Networking is all about word of mouth. It's word of mouth with exponential growth and speed potential! When you say something about your product or service, it's perceived
at best as hyperbole. On the other hand when a customer (and their friends)
praises your product or service on a Social Network, it’s a testimonial. Because
of the nature of Social Networks, that message can become viral very quickly,
spreading a positive message, so fast that it makes face to face word of mouth
marketing seem like watching grass grow. This also means that Social Media can
be a double edge sword. It can make you look good and help close the deal or it
can hurt your chances when you don't compare well against your competition.
In this article I have
shared with you 6 potent reasons why you should be engaged in Social Media. It’s
becoming a vital part of business marketing. The truth is this; even if you’re
not using Social Media, your clients and prospects are, and they are talking
about your product or service whether you know it or not. Social Media word of
mouth can help or hurt you quickly. If you have no direct input, if you’re not
engaged you are vulnerable! If you want to have any semblance of control, any
ability to steer your message so that it is positive, have any perceived value
as being useful, as being engaging and compelling, then you need to be engaged.
Not using social media today is like being an ostrich with its head in the
sand, just before the lion waltz’s in for dinner.
If you use these six
principles in your advertising campaigns, your efforts will produce greater
results and more positive long term effects. Ignore these principles and you
will have to deal with the long term consequences of your inaction's. You will be
left behind while your competition surges ahead and stakes a claim to your
customers. Take advantage of Social Media marketing, it’s mostly free and there
for the taking.
I have written several
other articles covering how to use social Media effectively. See my syndicated articles
covering social networking on Ezine magazine online. Especially read these
three; #1, Success Secrets for Social Media Connecting, #2, Three Common
Mistakes Business People Make When Using Social Media and #3, Six Cardinal
Rules for Success in Social Media Marketing. Here is a link to my
articles. http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Hector_E._Cisneros
That’s my opinion I
love to hear yours.
That’s my opinion I
love to hear yours.
Hector Cisneros is the director of Social Media Marketing at W Square Media Group, (http://www.w2mediagroup.com), a writer and author, has been an entrepreneur for more than 30
years, is a veteran of BNI for 19 years and was a BNI director for
over five years. He is still an active BNI member and follows the
philosophy of Givers Gain. He is the owner of several businesses in
Jacksonville, Florida. He actively coaches business owners in the fine
art of Online advertising, Business Networking and Word of Mouth
marketing. He is a principle partner in W Squared Media Group and the president of Website Know How, Inc. a holding
company for several of his business ventures that include online advertising,
word of mouth marketing, real estate holdings, non-profit
training/support, book publishing, health and wellness product sales
and Adventure sports. Hector's new book 60 Seconds to success, teaches
business owners how to get the most from word of mouth marketing by
using great 60 second introductions. To learn more about Hector
Cisneros, Social Media, Online Marketing or Word of Mouth Marketing
visit Hector's profile on EzineArticles.com Networkers Apprentice workshop http://networkersapprentice.com or my book website at http://www.60SecondsToSuccess.com
Very informative and persuasive article Hector! I enjoyed reading it! Very well done and attractively laid out.
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