Social Media Marketing

Social Media is now becoming trend and for businesses it represents a marketing opportunity that transcends the traditional middleman and connects companies directly with customers. This is the reason that now  nearly every business on the planet from giants like Starbucks and IBM to the local ice cream shop are exploring social media marketing initiatives. Now it’s here to stay and companies are rapidly adopting social media marketing. Social media is the next marketing wave much like email and websites first empowered businesses, Social media marketing is marketing using social networks, online communities, blog marketing and more. Trust and goodwill are the basis of social networking, and by marketing in the area of social media these fundamental notions need to be adhered.

Pros of social media marketing:

• Makes easy for marketers to identify various peer groups or influencers among various groups, who in turn can become brand evangelist and help in organic growth of a brand.
• It provides a window to marketers to not only present products / services to customers but also to listen to customers’ feedback.
• All this is done at nearly zero cost as most of the social networking sites are free.

Social media marketing helps in:

• Reduce in overall marketing expenses.
• Generating exposure to businesses.
• Increasing traffic/subscribers.
• Building new business partnerships.
• Rise in search engine rankings.
• Generating qualified leads due to better lead generation efforts.
• Selling more products and services.

Role of social media in marketing:

The major task of marketing as tool used to inform consumers about the products of the company, who they are and what they are offering, social marketing plays an important role in marketing.

• It can be used to provide an identity about the companies and the products or services that they offer.
• It helps in creating relationships with people who might not otherwise know about the products or service or what the companies represent.
• It can be used to associate themselves with their peers that may be serving the same target market.
• It can be used to communicate and provide the interaction that consumers look for.

Why there is need to consider social media marketing in businesses?

• Size: Facebook has around 270 million users globally. An average user on Facebook has 120 friends. On an average, 70-100 tweets happen by the second. This is the kind of enormity Social networking sites adopt.

• Transparency: No black hat techniques are allowed. No cheat code involved. Companies cannot fake authenticity in an attempt to get more people involved. Everything that happens in the social networking landscape is fool proof. Members can choose to associate with the company or opt out.

• Reach: It is possible to make mark globally and do it quickly using social networking sites.

• Advance website traffic: Social media is probably the easiest and fastest means of redirecting traffic to organization website. By simply insertion their website URL in their profile, the company can have their entire profile visitor’s check out our website.

• Branding: Social media is a best way to build brands. Platforms of social media are known to be one of the most powerful and fast means of branding.