It’s clear that social media has grown dramatically during the last few years and that with an increase of than 800 million active users, the quantity of Facebook users is easily a lot more than twice the size of the entire population of the United States!
Its growth has been astronomical and today, millions of people are posting more personal and business information online than previously. Premium Vacation Packages happening at lightning speed with a large number of posts, tweets and uploads occurring every hour.
Recent research conducted by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) commissioned by Sensis Pty Ltd (May 2011, p. 10) indicates, that “62% of Australian Internet surfers use a variety of social media sites, with many visiting every day and most at least several times a week.” It’s no surprise that with the an incredible number of prospective customers from across the world using these sites, every day, that so many businesses are determined to include social media into their marketing mix. Nonetheless it also important to get a knowledge of how these sites are being used and what’s involved with maintaining or resourcing your organization presence on these sites. Your online footprint can stick around for a long time so don’t underestimate how this may affect the perception of one’s brand in the market place. Spend time upfront thinking about whether social media is right for the business.
1. Seek first to understand – It is crucial that you understand the basics of how is social media marketing actually works and how it’s used. What exactly are people and businesses doing with social media? What gets them results? A few of you may be thinking, how do I do this? Perhaps you could consider trying it out on your own by setting up a personal account, then testing a number of the features, or get yourself a trusted friend to show you their account and show you through. Alternatively you can find so many resources and ‘how to’ items online about social media, you could run a search on Google or on YouTube on a specific topic of interest watching the video tutorials to get informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What is your purpose is for using social media marketing? What do you hope to achieve for your business by it? It’s really important that you identify your purpose for getting involved in social media marketing (or any other marketing activity for that matter). You need to work out why you are engaging. What do you expect to achieve? Do you simply want to build brand awareness, engage with your customers or identify new sales opportunities? Be sure you be realistic about what you think you will be able to accomplish.
3. If you decide to engage in social media, which sites are best for you personally? – With the plethora of social media marketing sites available, which ones are best for the business? Think about where your target audience would socialize online, and take into account the amount of time and resources you’ll realistically be able to commit to maintaining and administering your website presence. Those are right for you? You will probably find that some certainly are a better fit than others.
4. Quality Content – If you decide that social media is right for the business, carefully think about the amount and quality of information you wish to share in the online sphere. Remember it’ll probably stay there for a long period, so you need to make sure it accurate and reliable information that’s valuable to your market. It has to be relevant, otherwise people won’t read it.