It’s clear that social media has grown dramatically over the last few years and that with an increase of than 800 million active users, the quantity of Facebook users is easily more than twice the size of the entire population of the United States!
Its growth has been astronomical now, thousands of people are posting more personal and business information online than ever before. It’s happening at lightning speed with a large number 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 surfers use a variety of social media sites, with many visiting each day and most at least a few times a week.” It’s no real surprise that with the millions of prospective customers from worldwide using these sites, every day, that so many businesses have decided to include social media marketing into their marketing mix. Nonetheless it also important to get a knowledge of how these sites are increasingly being used and what’s involved with maintaining or resourcing your organization presence on these sites. Your web footprint can stick around for a long period so don’t underestimate how this can affect the perception of one’s brand on the market place. Spend time upfront thinking about whether social media is right for the business.
1. Seek first to comprehend – It is vital that you understand the fundamentals of how is social media really works and how it’s used. What are people and businesses doing with social media? What gets them results? Social Media Management services of you may be thinking, how do I do this? Perhaps you could consider trying it out on your own by setting up an individual account, then testing a number of the features, or get yourself a trusted friend showing you their account and guide you through. Alternatively there are so many resources and ‘how to’ items online about social media, you could run a search on Google or on YouTube on a particular topic of interest watching the video tutorials to get informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What’s your purpose is for using social media marketing? What do you hope 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 example). You need to work out why you are engaging. What do you expect to achieve? Do you simply want to build brand awareness, engage with your customers or identify new sales opportunities? Be sure you be realistic about what you believe you will be able to accomplish.
3. If you decide to take part in social media, which sites are best for you? – With the plethora of social media sites available, those are best for the business? Consider where your market would socialize online, and take into account the amount of time and resources you would realistically be able to invest in maintaining and administering your site presence. Which ones are right for you? You might find that some certainly are a better fit than others.
4. Quality Content – In the event that you decide that social media marketing is right for your business, carefully think about the amount and quality of information you need to share in the online sphere. Remember it’ll probably stay there for years, so you must make sure it accurate and reliable information that is valuable to your target audience. It has to be relevant, otherwise people will not read it.