The traditional marketing model was to obtain as many eyeballs on your product or service’s message as you possibly can and hope a percentage of customers purchase. Yellow pages, radio advertising, direct mail, television commercials, magazine ads, etc.. are types of these traditional advertising methods. These conventional types of marketing are no more effective as many consumers have become blind to the ‘one way’ messaging. The message has been overdone and people no longer trust advertisers. A recent survey discovered that only 14% of people trust ads while 76% of individuals trust consumer recommendations. Accordingly, more marketers began seeking alternative ways to connect with potential consumers.
Marketing on the Internet was originally made popular through the use of Websites and optimizing those sites through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques. While still a worthwhile strategy, SEO has been updated by Blogging platforms 2.0 strategies, such as for example social media marketing. Social media is when companies utilize Web 2 2.0 platforms, such as blogs, social media sites (like Facebook, Google+, Foursquare, Twitter, & YouTube) and other emerging online marketing tools. The advantage of blogging platforms 2.0 platforms versus traditional means of advertising, and even traditional website marketing, is that it involves ‘two-way communication’, where users are empowered to generate content and businesses are incentivized to communicate with their customers.
The days of broadcasting your product or services message out to the masses and hoping for a response are gone. People don’t want to obtain nameless, faceless companies. Not merely are consumers watching the ‘man behind the curtain’, however they also want to know what others say about your service or product. A recent study figured 80% of US Internet using moms were influenced by word-of-mouth from family and friends when making a purchase decision. No other media platform allows for small businesses to reap the benefits of consumer word of mouth advertising like social media marketing.
Benefits Of SOCIAL MEDIA
Increased New Customer Acquisitions – The main advantage of social media marketing is that you will have the opportunity for connecting with networks of potential customers that you would otherwise be unable to come across utilizing other traditional marketing techniques and even SEO.
Word of Mouth Marketing- Word of mouth marketing has always been the most influential solution to generate sales. With social media, it is possible to create raving fans who’ll voluntarily promote your product and services to their networks of friends. Of course, if your product or service is poor, you might suffer the reverse great things about this.
Brand Awareness – Branding your business using social media marketing is much simpler, faster, and less costly to achieve than the traditional advertising medium or even website marketing.
Customer Retention – Web 2 2.0 platforms will be the perfect places to communicate with your customers about services, special promotions, or merely to educate them on your own business. Through consistent, FREE communication, you can keep your company before your customer’s eyeballs which will in turn lead to repeat business and referrals. Remember, the key to this type of communication is usually to be content rich; avoid these avenues to pitch your product or service.
Rapid Results – The effective and successful implementation of a social media marketing plan will create almost immediate results for the business. This increase can be quantified through increased site traffic, increased lead acquisition, and ultimately more sales. Unlike Private Jet Travel or TV ads, where your visitors disappear once the ads set off air, these web 2 2.0 platform benefits will continue long-term as long as the communication and updating of your social media marketing presence is maintained.
