Wikipedia defines social media marketing as “the process of gaining website traffic and attention through social media platforms”. Social media in itself refers to all websites that present radically distinguishable social actions. Lately, this has been the tool for both small and large businesses to look deeper into the market and interact and connect with more number of customers. But now a days social media is the crucial platform for any businesses to connect with their persona and to reach large audiences.
Businesses must understand that social media could be more than a catch phrase. Interacting online through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google plus and other has become a way of life and businesses should take the advantage of the same. Contents that would help keep the viewers engaged and even share are the ones that get the maximum attention. Each social media has their own audiences and one need to understand the best way to engage them by feeding media, content or other relevant information. Some even say that modern businesses don’t have an alternative from social media platforms – it’s mandatory! What consists of social media is a broad set of web based networking which is accessed using both computers and mobile phones. This new way of interaction is fast paced, word-of-mouth, in-the-face, and could include both good and bad reviews. This is also why items shared in social media are seemingly more trustworthy and actionable.
Top Social Media Channels for Marketing Opportunities
1) Facebook :
Co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is considered one of the most popular social media website around the world. The casual and friendly facebook environment can equip businesses with intense social media marketing strategies. A Fan Page that users subscribe to will be the source of all the information that is read, commented upon, reacted and spread over the 10 million strong site. Facebook is offering paid advertisement for business owner provides great facilities to target audiences by Geography, Demography, age group, interest and many more things.
2) Google Plus :
Google Plus is the most emerging social media platform owned and manged by Google. It is getting more popularity in short time and considered next Facebook in coming time. Though the platform hasn’t been quite able to stand up to its competitor, Facebook, it does provide tough competition by offering unique atmosphere to upload and share videos, photos, post updates and links and connect with friends, family members and acquaintances.
3) Twitter :
This is the platform that acts as a tool for broadcasting every minor and major update relating to your business and industry. With a steady stream of followers, this could be the right platform to mix up news updates with special discount offers, events and light-weighted information sharing. All the work revolves around communication and dialogue buildup that impresses and indulges.
4) YouTube :
YouTube is world’s second largest search engine around the world acquired by Google few years back. It has been the number one place for video sharing and viewing. If you have a video content that can impress, post it on YouTube to make your brand viral. Sharing takes a microsecond if the content is well made. It offers customized advertisement opportunity for the business owner who can promote their video or other ads by targeting specific audiences.
5) LinkedIn :
World’s number #1 professional social networking platform connect individual and businesses around the world. Taking a more professional approach, LinkedIn is an opportunistic venue for professional dialogues to take place. Encourage both customers and clients to have a better knowledge of your company. It can help businesses in recruitment, business development and can help professionals to connect with like minded people around the world.
6) Pinterest :
This is the latest in social media trends. Being an image centered platform, it allows maximum exposure to design and brand image of products and offerings. Use the pin-boards rightly and you can win a beneficial amount of traffic. An important thing to take note of is that this information sharing is not limited to a single platform.
There are several social media platforms that people look up to for information and news. A normal surfer may not be logged onto news sites at all time, but he will receive every Facebook notification on his mobile. Such is the power of social media – it is both addictive and self leveraging. Traffic comes from all walks of life – some of which you even have thought of. The number of users active is social media crosses several millions and the figures are rapidly increasing every day. Users following you on social media refers to the fact that you have the audience that has the reasons to do so and will be a potential customer if not already.
Benefits of social media marketing for businesses
The world today is more curious and it is social media that helps feed the hunger. It is the best place to discover new stories, events and products and as such is a cornerstone to link building with customers. Social platforms are perhaps the only tools that allow reaching out to the customer base without having to spend exorbitant amount of money of marketing and advertising. Having a presence and churning out an attractive content is all it takes to get viral. Further people tend to have more faith on something shard by friends rather than being presented by the company or brand directly. While businesses gain the ways o reach out to new possible customers, they also have the best ways to enhance their relationship with already existing ones. Social media marketing can help a business reach various goals, including:
- Customer conversions
- Lead generation opportunity
- Website traffic through user engagement
- Brand identity building and better brand association
- Brand awareness
- Improved search engine rankings (social signals are considered by search engines)
- Better sales opportunities
- Interaction and communication with key audience
- Reduced marketing expenditure
- Customer conflict resolutions
Interesting Facts about Social Media Websites
Social media is fun, addictive, inspiring, educating and free. Both customers and businesses have the right reasons to involve themselves in social marketing efforts and thus have a good solution to grow bigger. Used wisely, this could spell success for businesses and be the competitive advantage they have been long looking for. Have you incorporated social media in your marketing strategies? if Not, you are loosing large business opportunities!
