What is Social Media?
Social media is a term that covers the various aspects of media that encourages user participation and interaction and it involves the collaboration and sharing of content.
Social media has been around for quite some time now. It has been around ever since the internet begun and has now become more accessible and less technical.
Web development, improvements in computer technology and the wide use of broadband internet has driven consumers online. Social media is growing in significance and now has the potential to change the media consumption.
Why is social media a good option for my company?
Social media exists everywhere that there is a connection to the internet and the percentage of people using the internet is increasing everyday.
There is a huge opportunity for companies to communicate with their customers and for the customers to communicate back. In fact recent studies by Cone Research have shown that 93% of Americans believe that a company should have some sort of presence in social media and 56% of Americans feel that they are better served as customers if they have the option to communicate with the company via social media.
“Today’s companies can no longer sit on the sidelines when it comes to social media”.
Consumer decisions are being increasingly influenced by what people see on blogs, forums, videos and other forms of social media.
The question should not be if you company should be involved in social media but when it can be involved in social media.
What are the positives of having a corporate social media influence?
There are huge advantages in having a social media presence as a company. Social media will:
• Increase the customer awareness of your business
• Increase awareness of your brand
• Improve the relationships with your target audience
• Improve the overall reputation of your business
• Improve your ability to communicate your message with your target audience
Basically, by using social media, you can build a larger audience for a fraction of the cost of traditional media. This means more profit for your company and more time spend on the things that will earn you the most money.
Is it possible to measure the success of social media marketing?
Social media marketing is much easier to measure than traditional marketing. Traditional marketing leaves you hoping that your message gets across; social media marketing on the other hand gives you solid data to measure your success.
Social media will measure a variety of different aspects that form a part of your success. For example it will measure the volume of conversations, the quantity of blog posts or video posts and it will also measure things such as site traffic, conversion rates and much more.
How can my company begin using social media?
Create
You must create branded content such as widgets, content, applications, services and platforms that gives the consumer a benefit to using your product/service and encourages them to engage with your product/service.
Participate
You need to embrace the world of social media. Get involved in social platforms such as blogs, video and photo sharing sites and other forms of media communication. Communicate with your consumers and interlink your content to engage a larger audience.
Connect
Connecting with your consumers is vital. You need to do this a variety of ways. You need to connect in the form of advertising and sponsorship and you need to track feedback and allow your consumers to interact with your brand.
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