It’s no secret that today is the age of social media; however, I have come to find out that throughout my dealings with Facebook, fans, business and individuals alike that it is no longer enough to just think about having a Facebook fan page, and only having a profile, but rather that it is necessary to have one. No matter what type of business that one might have, be it a small business, services business and/or a business where you hand make items people need to have a facebook fan page, because if you don’t rest assured that the millions of other individuals out there will have one sooner or later. So what’s the point of spelling this out aside from the obvious which is to get more sales, more leads and more potential customers and clients you might be wondering?
social media marketing
Social Media Evolution: The Many Changes
The majority of companies, big and small, have discovered Social Media as a very successful way of marketing their businesses and have planned their strategies and implemented plans to take their place in this exploding and popular medium.
When large companies actually do television commercials where they mention their Facebook or Twitter accounts instead of pointing the public to their websites, it is evident that they have recognized the power of Social Media.
Time to Get Socially Serious
According to Facebook statistics there are over 500 million users on Facebook at present! To break it down here is a small bulleted list of findings directly from Facebook itself:
- More than 500 million active users
- 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
- Average user has 130 friends
- People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
- There are over 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages)
- Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events
How do you handle online complaints?
Are you aware of any negative comments posted on social networking sites regarding your company? Do you even care if a client posts a complaint saying they are not happy with your product or service? If you don’t care then you probably shouldn’t be in business.
Monitoring your online reputation
Consistent and constant listening and engaging in conversations regarding your business or industry will ensure you are in tune with your consumers and your competitors and automatically will be aware of any negative comments that will affect your business. By monitoring social networks for mentions of your brand, services and products or your domain name will make certain you can respond in “real-time” and not let any negative comments viral out of control.
Social Media Marketing: You Can Go Local Now!
Back when Social Media started, Internet Marketers were thrilled with the new opportunities to build their presence and their brand for their own companies and their clients.
Social Media now allowed people to contribute and share content in various ways throughout the internet, over and above their own websites and suddenly there was a resurgence in popularity of blogging, article writing, list building and email marketing.
However, Social Media Channels were in their infancy and were better suited to international and national on-line businesses. It was difficult if not impossible for local stores, brick and mortar businesses, restaurants and bars and almost anyone else to effectively use Social Media to get to their local target markets.
