With over 170 million potential customers using social media in the U.S. today, it is the obligation of every brand in America to begin developing a strategy to reach out and engage new customers in this new and ever expanding frontier.
What is Social Media?
“Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words and pictures.”
(Wikipedia.com)
“Media (content that is published) with a social (anyone can add to it) component.”
(hubspot.com)
In this age people are all over social media. This is forcing business owners to rethink how they approach marketing. Outbound marketing, such as, telemarketing, trade shows, direct mail, email blasts, print ads and TV/Radio are all forms of advertising that have been around for many years, and by the numbers and percentages can be considered less effective. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), blogging, RSS, viral videos and social media are all effective and new forms of inbound marketing that are empowering consumers by giving them the power to decide when they can reach out to you, and we all know that one thing the consumers love to have is the power of choice.
It is a more effective form of advertising and as Mike Volpe of Hubspot quotes, “Inbound marketing is more “permission” based…people will be out finding you when they are ready and it is more of a magnetic force pulling business in.” It mostly gains businesses major brownie points, or major donut points.
Take Dunkin Donuts for example that has gained 1,237,895 fans on their Facebook. They have created a place where people can rant and rave about their product, and also get free stuff by running promotions and contests to engage their consumers in a place where they can be comfortable and confident. Another great and useful social media website is Twitter. If you haven’t jumped on the “tweet wagon”, as they call it, then you are definitely out of the loop! A recent study by hubspot.com showed that Twitter is now handling 600 tweets per second or if you like big numbers nearly 50 million tweets per day. What a great way to get the word out quickly and effectively to thousands and millions of people by just an update of your Twitter account.
Also, your social media accounts are a great way to promote your blogs and as a result will help your SEO campaign. It is a great place to meet people, answer questions, test ideas with immediate feedback, and become a valid member of the community.
There are no issues of perishable investment with Social Media, unlike PPC and direct marketing as the longer and more established your interaction and promotion lasts in Social Media, it creates a history of dedication and credibility with your “friends and followers”. Perception is everything in marketing and the savvy marketer who understands the long range benefits of Social Media will certainly need a team of experienced professionals to keep the creative ideas flowing. That’s where SMG comes in. Success requires a unique voice and the ability to strike a balance between promotion and personality and our team has an excellent track record in optimizing and creating successful Social Media Campaigns. Give us a shout and let us open your eyes to the possibilities.
- Blog design & installation
- Viral campaign development
- Blog copywriting
- Friend/follower building
- RSS content distribution
- Social Media Advertising
- Campaign planning
- Reputation monitoring
- Profile development & design
- Widget & Game development