Social media marketing increases customer awareness of a company’s products and services, boosts customer acquisition, and grows revenue.
Although social media marketing has proved its effectiveness in different B2B, B2C and B2G markets, some organizations resist incorporating social media sites into their Internet marketing and business plans. In a June 2013 blog post written by Nacie Carson for Chicago’s SproutSocial, a social media management and engagement software company, Carson points out that 20% of businesses in 2013 were still unwilling to use social media sites according to a Harvard Business Review study.
The reasons given by many senior-level executives for their company’s lack of social media usage vary widely. Some C-level executives feel that social media cannot bring revenue to an organization, is merely a passing fad or doesn’t have a measurable impact on their business success. Others consider social media to be “just for the young” or they have tried social media with unrealistic expectations that lead to less-than-stellar results.
However, when an organization incorporates social media marketing into its Internet marketing plan and uses savvy marketers to run sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+, the potential for success rises considerably. By creating social media content that viewers want to share with friends, relatives and colleagues, companies attract new potential customers and retain their existing customers. As a result, there are increased opportunities for sales and more revenue.
If upper management at your business resists social media, here are some reasons that adding a blog and using Internet marketing sites such as Facebook and Twitter benefits your organization:
1) Writing regular blog posts, tweeting and putting up Facebook posts in conjunction with proper SEO (search engine optimization) techniques helps companies to be found on search engines. Ideally, a company should appear on the first page of search engine result pages, since most viewers do not click past the first page of results.
2) Social media increases sales opportunities worldwide. Social media sites are accessible globally, 24 hours a day. They keep sales efforts continuous, outside of normal business hours.
3) Social media sites build sales relationships. By being responsive to customer needs and comments, companies increase customer trust and loyalty.
4) Social media is worth the investment. Some social media sites are free or low-cost but require some expenditure in employee time. Other social media efforts such as YouTube or Vimeo videos may prove more expensive to produce but pay off with time and regular effort.
5) Social media helps other business departments. To attract talented employees, a human resources department can post links to their company’s job ads within Twitter and Facebook. A blog comment or answer to a Facebook post may point out the need for additional products or a new service, which could be developed by research and development departments to benefit the company.
6) Social media results are measurable. With Google Analytics and other tools, businesses gain valuable insight into the effectiveness of their social media platforms. This information should, of course, be used with traditional methods of measuring sales effectiveness, such as increased phone calls and orders.
7) Social media improves revenue. When companies use social media to build relationships and attract customers, social media can definitely increase ROI (return on investment).
Social media marketing increases customer awareness of a company’s products and services, boosts customer acquisition, and grows revenue. Although social media success often doesn’t appear overnight, it is an effective public relations and sales tool when it’s combined with correct social media marketing techniques.
