Is social media worth all the buzz? It definitely is! In his book Crush It, Gary Vaynerchuk talks about how he once spent $17500 to post a special sales offer employing a perfectly placed billboard on the New York Turnpike, direct mail and video. The billboard brought in 170 orders, radio brought in 240, and direct mail did a little over 300. For the cost of $0.00 and about 10 minutes of his time, he tweeted the exact same offer and received 1700 orders in 48 hours. What this should prove to anyone is that Social Media as a marketing tool is here to stay!
Social Media is a central and open communication tool. It is the hub through which businesses want to drive social interaction. Businesses can use Facebook to get their messages out and wait to hear unfiltered customer feedback, both positive and negative.
Companies can use pages as a persona allowing them to position their brands on other relevant pages. For example, Caribou Coffee can now post on coffee lovers’ pages. Facebook has emerged as a significant traffic source for many companies’ websites. While some argue that it might not have the viral potential of Twitter, nothing is more consistent at bringing a good flow of traffic to every message or post.
There is a lot of buzz around Twitter these days, but if you aren’t looking to find out what kind of coffee your friend had this morning or what’s happening in the latest celebrity gossip, does Twitter have relevance for you? The answer is yes. Twitter can be a powerful business-building tool, especially for marketing. So how do you use this exploding social phenomenon as a tool to build your business?
Twitter is the ultimate outbound messaging tool. Inbound customer messaging is quick and to the point which allows for easier monitoring and management of conversations. It’s not what you’re saying on Twitter, it’s what others are saying that impacts your brand. Getting re-tweets and interactions can do more for brand exposure than most any other current social site.
LinkedIn is a site for business professionals. Companies could potentially engage customers by encouraging employees to answer industry related questions that are posted. This would help in setting up the company as a de facto industry expert. It is also a great tool for personal branding which a company can leverage to show the professionalism of their team.
YouTube is a free video sharing website for users to share and upload new content. It is great for quickly responding to negative comments and complaints. It is also a venue to show off your Social Media savvy. There may be no better place to repair your reputation if things ever go south. YouTube is second only to Facebook when people are researching your company. It is vital to marry your video to your brand. It is a wonderful tool for building links back to your site because the videos generally rank so well. YouTube has been a proven commodity to provide valuable SEO back to your brand.
A blog is a great tool to share content with interested followers. Much like email or mobile marketing, it is an opt-in only tool. Blogging is a great way to share information about what is going on with your products and services. You can comment on events that are related to your field or industry, creating a conversation that can lead back to your company. It is a great place to conduct a poll or describe how to use a product, platform, or service. A quality blog can lead to more followers and have a very positive impact on your SEO.
