It’s clear that social media marketing has grown dramatically over the last few years and that with more 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!
Its growth has been astronomical now, millions 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 marketing sites, with many visiting every day and most at least several times a week.” It’s no surprise that with the millions of prospective customers from worldwide 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 a knowledge of how these sites are being used and what’s involved with maintaining or resourcing your organization presence on these sites. Your online footprint can stick around for a long period so don’t underestimate how this can affect the perception of your brand on the market place. Spend time upfront thinking about whether social media is right for the business.
1. Seek first to understand – It is vital that you understand the basics of how is social media actually works and how it’s being used. What exactly are people and businesses doing with social media? What gets them results? A few of you may be thinking, how do I do this? Perhaps you could consider trying it out for yourself by setting up an individual account, then testing some of the features, or get a trusted friend to show you their account and show you through. Alternatively there are Luxury Travel Guides and ‘how to’ items online about social media marketing, that you could run a explore Google or on YouTube on a specific topic of interest and watch the video tutorials to obtain informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What’s your purpose is for using social media? What do you desire to achieve for your business by 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 workout why you are taking part. What do you expect to achieve? Do you simply want to build brand awareness, engage with 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 marketing sites available, which ones are best for your business? Consider where your market would socialize online, and think about the amount of time and resources you’ll realistically be able to commit to 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 – In the event that you decide that social media is right for your business, carefully think about the amount and quality of information you would like to share in the web sphere. Remember it’ll probably stay there for a long period, so you must make sure it accurate and reliable information that’s valuable to your market. It must be relevant, otherwise people won’t read it.