Should I Be Using Social Media For My Business?

At Solidus, we get this question all the time from customers and potential customers. The answer: If you're in business, YES! I have heard the sentiment a number of times from our customers: "I don't feel like telling people where I am all the time or what I had for breakfast." While some people use social media to broadcast the mundane details of their lives, for businesses, social media is a platform for providing information about your business and industry, starting conversations, and listening to customers and potential customers.

Why Should I Be Using Social Marketing?

Because that's where people are spending their time. Recent research suggests that "nearly half of Americans use social media." According to a new survey from Arbitron and Edison Research, 8% of teens and 77% of people from 18 to 24 have profile pages; 65% of people from 25 to 34 and 51% of those 35 to 44 also have profile pages. Also, 30% of Americans who have a profile on at least one social networking site visit them "several times a day," which is a significant increase from 18% a year ago. There are currently around 400 million users on Facebook - if it were a country, it would be larger than the United States.

Of course people are using these sites for pleasure and to connect with friends, but they are also following brands and looking for information for purchasing decisions. The "2010 Social Media Report" released by ForeSee Results reports that 69% of online shoppers regularly use social networking sites to interact with their favorite brands. Approximately 56% of respondents reported using Facebook to interact with brands.

We hear a lot of "the type of customers I am looking for are not on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn." I don't think that this is necessarily true, since the fastest growing users of social media sites are over the age of 45. Also, even if your target customers (in terms of age and demographics) aren't currently part of the social networking craze, they will be - and, probably sooner than you think. "Over half of all consumers say that they have already purchased something - or switched to another brand or retailer - because of a recommendation they got through a social media site," according to Shama Kabani, author of The Zen of Social Marketing.

I Have Doubts about Using Social Networking for My Business

A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, "Entrepreneurs Question Value of Social Media," as indicated by the name, looks at the pros and cons of entrepreneurs who have engaged social media for their businesses.

A survey released in January by the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business and Network Solutions LLC, reports that last year, social marketing adoption by businesses with fewer than 100 employees doubled to 24% from 12%. The WSJ also article cites stats about entrepreneurs who say they have lost money on their social marketing efforts. I can't believe that this true, and the article does give details regarding how they are losing money. I would argue that the organizations that are being cited here did not plan effectively or have people who don't know what they are doing running their social media efforts.

The article tells the story of a woman who purchased a $1,900 folding kayak after she saw a Tweet on Twitter. Of course this type of result is not typical in that the value of using such sites for business marketing is usually more of a long-term relationship-building activity than a direct sales channel.

Another entrepreneur cited in the article argues that there is a direct correlation between is full-fledged entry into social marketing for his business and increased sales - a 40% increase in online sales in 2009, compared with 2008 when the company was just getting started.

Recommendations for Your Social Media Strategy

? Be strategic - Like any marketing or customer relations efforts, you need to plan effectively to connect with your audience and spark interest. You wouldn't send out a direct mail campaign without carefully crafting the content or determining who the recipients will be; the same applies to social media.

? Tailor your social media content to your audience - What do your customers want to know or learn about? They don't care about you; they want to know what can help them.

? Be careful about what you post - Make sure it makes sense, won't offend people, and is error-free. If something does go awry with social media, you can quickly address or rectify the problem.

? Be consistent - Stay engaged and keep your audiences engaged. If you only log on and post once a month, people know that you're not paying attention.

? Learn from others - Pay attention to industry and customer trends. Listen to what's going on around you. You can learn a lot about your customers and competitors by following their social networking activities. What are they thinking about on a daily basis? What are the customers thinking about? If you follow their social networking activities, you can find out.

The New Face of Marketing Includes Social Media

"Marketing today is the art and science (dare I say the Zen?) of leveraging multiple platforms to get your message across so that you can motivate people to take action. Tools are changing - you need to keep up," argues Kabani. "Your website is the place where you can SELL your products and services. Social media is the place where you introduce a potential customer to your brand."

A recent report titled, "2010 State of Inbound Marketing," released by HubSpot, emphasizes that inbound marketing through social media can double average monthly leads for small and medium-sized businesses; "creating a community of followers through Twitter and a regularly updated stream of content on a blog builds engagement, boosts the company's presence on Google and ultimately bring in more potential customers."

While some of us may feel like it's a given to be engaged with social media, especially if you're in the business of social media and content marketing, for a whole lot of people out there, social media are still foreign, shrouded in mystery, and not completely understood. However, we are almost to the point where not being part of social media is not an option for businesses. It shouldn't be a question of whether or not to do, but how to make it work for you and your organization. Today, the hot social media venues are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Tomorrow it will likely be something else, but whatever IT is, if you're in business, you need to be involved and part of the conversation.

Emily Trask is a co-founder and managing partner of Solidus Editorial Solutions, a company that provides a multimedia approach to brand enhancement through editing, writing, social media, content marketing, and consulting. http://www.soliduseditorial.com

Making Social Media Work For Your Business

Social Media and the Development of the Web 2.0

Designed to be spread through social interaction, Social Media relies on accessibility and consumer usability. Taking full advantage of the wide spread use of the Internet, social media uses web-based technologies to engage singular media sources in dialogue with one another. Social media has brought democracy to the dissemination of information and knowledge, giving a voice to the general public, transforming the masses from content consumers to content producers. Social media has been defined by Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein as "a group of Internet bases application that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content." Many business have started to take advantage of this "user-generated content", also known as "consumer generated media". The wide spread use of social media has taken the information age one step further into what is becoming known as "The Attention Age"

With so much content available on the web and so many voices contributing to web-based conversations, the question in play now becomes how to capture the attention of the masses and rise above the noise that has been created by the constant online media "buzz". Distinguishing any one particular site, person or idea on the web takes a great deal of creativity and innovation. This need has created a whole new pool of professionals who specialize in driving traffic or attention to a specific Internet "site" or place. Now that everyone has a voice, the goal is to become an "authority" in a certain field or on a specific subject. Much of becoming an authority is developing a following.

Businesses large and small have begun to take advantage of this idea and the facility of user generated content and consumer generated media in order to use their customers as marketing tools. With a few simple incentives, business have to power to use their customers as promoters, increasing brand exposure and positive consumer feedback. With the extensive reach of social media sites such as Twitter, messages and information can be spread instantly to thousands of individuals across the globe.

Other forms of social media include networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, online forums such as Wikipedia, media sharing tools such as YouTube and MySpace (also a social networking site) podcasts, social bookmarking, blogs, vlogs and social network aggregation platforms.

With the widespread use of online media and the prevalence of the Internet, it is in every business' best interest to take full advantage of social media as a marketing and sales tool. In the United States, social networking accounts for 11 percent of all time spent on the Internet. Over a quarter of Internet page visits in the US were to top social networking sites. Twitter processes more than one billion tweets each month and averages about 40 million tweets per day. While these numbers may seem staggering, they are increasing every day.

There are many ways businesses can use social media and Internet marketing to their advantage. By creating their own online profiles, they can develop following online through sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as distributing content through Wikipedia, a business blog and their website. Since the goal of social media is to start and spread conversation, businesses have to offer a point of intrigue, be it through interesting content or an incentive in exchange for participating in an information exchange.

Businesses can also use the information that sites such as Facebook offer about their users to target Internet advertising at a specific market. Since Facebook publicly shares information such as occupation, location, martial status, educational background and interests, it is easy to design and target advertising campaigns at a specific group of users.

If done right, online media can be used to have the consumer do the marketing. Similar to a store selling a t-shirt with their brand name printed across the front, businesses can use their customers as their own advertising tools. For example, if a business creates a Facebook fan page that they invite their customers to join by offering a simple incentive such as a coupon or access to "insider information", their business name will be displayed on all of their fan's profiles in the live newsfeed of all of their fans' friends. By increasing exposure, they will expand their following, thereby gaining more customers.

Social vs Industrial Media

Media can be loosely defined as "a source in which people gain information, education, news, etc." Online media is distinct from industrial media in that it is generally far less expensive and more accessible. Anyone can publish social media, whereas industrial media usually requires significant financial backing. While both social and industrial media have extensive reach, the ability to produce social media is available to anyone. Social media is also far more user friendly. Anyone with access to the Internet can create a Facebook profile or sign up for Twitter with no special training. Industrial media creators, on the other hand, have almost always received some sort of higher education specializing in the field. Perhaps where the two forms differ most is in the fact that social media has the ability to be published in real time. Whereas there is a time lag between an occurred event and the information being published in a newspaper, social media is broadcast instantaneously. It is true that news-reporters can broadcast live to television, but they can only be in one place at one time whereas social media users can send out information from thousands of different sources. Take the recent earthquake in Chile, for example. While a few reporters and camera crews could show live footage from a specific point of interest, anyone with a computer or cellphone could instantly send updates on what was happening from wherever they were, thus providing thousands of live information sources on what was happening in real time. Because of the nature of the Internet, social media is permanent whereas industrial media is destructible. Conversely, however, once industrial media is published, it cannot be edited or altered. On the other hand, social media can be changed almost instantly.

Web 2.0

The term "Web 2.0" first came into play just before the new millennium when Darcy DiNucci used it in an article she wrote about the future of the Internet. Whereas the web was once a static place for gathering information, it has now become an active forum for information sharing and development. The term started to become more widely used in 2004 when O'Reilley Media and MediaLive hosted the first Web 2.0 conference. Web 2.0 does not necessarily refer to complicated technology upgrades, but rather to how the web is used, and the modern ability to interact with it.

The idea of Web 2.0 centers around the idea of using the Internet as a platform. Users are able to do far more than just retrieve data. Users now have the ability to interact with site features (post comments, live chat, upload images, music and video, etc) as well as store, manage and own data that they post.

Social Media is a large part of the nature of Web 2.0. Being able to have live conversations, instantly broadcast information to thousands of users at the same time as well as interact with other sources (live or computerized) has transformed the Internet from a library into a playground.

So where are we headed next? Have we already crossed the line into a new iteration of the Internet? Have we entered into the realm of Web 3.0? The expansion of social media platforms and the web's ability to track and connect user preferences suggests that we are indeed entering into yet another stage of how the Internet is used. Companies have a responsibility to keep up to date with these emerging trends as it is sure to effect the way we conduct business.

Ken Sundheim is President and Founder of KAS Placement "KAS Sales Recruiter"

Marketing Recruiters New York City

A Business Owners Perspective on Social Media

This discussion piece is for business owners seeking a no-frills explanation on how social media can add value to their business.

The post will cover the following:

What is the fundamental change to marketing that businesses must be aware of.
How social media tools can help with success in this new marketing environment.
How our business utilizes some of the social media tools to help retain our existing customers and attract then convert our target prospects.


But first lets get down to why you are here. I assume as a business owner you are seeking the answers to the following:

Will social media help my business increase revenue?
How much effort is involved and what skills and resources do I need?
Is this just some glossy hype for consultants to sell me stuff I don't need?


This discussion piece is not about selling you into social media. Its about showing you that social media tools can help your business adapt to the fundamental changes taking place within marketing which all business owners know is happening but have no idea what to do.

So in essence social media is the effect not the cause for change. You first need to understand why social media has ramped up in importance for business.

So what is the fundamental change in marketing?

Easy

Answer the questions below.

When was the last time you clicked on a web site banner (or for that matter even noticed the banners on a web site)?

When was the last time you even read an unsolicited email that was sent to you from a business?

When was the last time you answered the telemarketers questions?

When was the last time you bothered to read the averts within a newspaper?

If the answer is "don't know" to the questions above you are not alone. Your prospects and clients are answering "don't know" as well.

The fundamental change for business is the change from "Outbound Marketing" to "Inbound Marketing".

Inbound Marketing - The shift in how people interact with your business The bulk of businesses today have an "Outbound" marketing strategy that is focused on disrupting the recipient in order to get the message across.

Outbound marketing use tools that cause disruption such as telemarketing, unsolicited (opt-out) emails, unsolicited postal mail and adverts within printed media.

Its all about pushing your wares in-front of the consumer even when they are not interested.

People (including yourself) have either devised ways to ignore the disruption or employed tools that do the blocking for you such as CallerID, spam filters or email cleaning filters and the trusty trash bin for postal mail. This is creating a virtual brick wall against the disruption.

Marketers have in fact shot themselves in the foot by over disrupting people enough that now they are considered an annoyance and even worse ignored.

This is where inbound marketing is maturing and replacing outbound.

Instead of attempting (and now failing) to disrupt people why not encourage a relationship between you, the business, and your customers and prospects where they talk and you listen (and respond).

Inbound marketing is about building a relationship with your consumers and prospects with the intention of establishing open and transparent communication channels. The key thing here is that you as a business actually listen and respond.

Examples of inbound marketing tools are blogs, forums, Twitter and chat.

How we use social media tools to support inbound marketing Here is an example of how we use inbound marketing to attract new customers and keep existing customers happy by using social media tools which are perfect for inbound marketing.

First off we have created a blog that our staff can contribute posts to such as software updates, business social events, customer support FAQ's but the most important topic that is fundamental to our customers and prospects is our research findings on email marketing. A blog is an ideal tool to transmit our research data to the public in a way that is easy categorized, read and archived.

We allow comments to be posted on the blog that we monitor and respond to. This shows that we as a business are interested in what customers and prospects have to say.

Another benefit of providing a blog is that prospects who are not yet ready to engage us in a sales cycle can subscribe to the blogs RSS feed or subscribe to our newsletter. This allows them to keep track of what we are doing without having to directly contact to us. When they are ready to engage us in a sales cycle they already know how we operate and what we represent.

The end result of this effort is the creation of a community of loyal followers who believe in what we do and feel respected by us.

Stop for one moment and think about the previous sentence for it highlights one of the positive results of using inbound marketing.

We have now created a community of followers who know that we care about what they have to say. They talk - we listen and respond. It is not hard to imagine that given the chance they will mention us in their conversations and hopefully go out of their way to recommend us.

We have now moved to third party endorsement which is the most powerful form of marketing you can get.

So by using a blog we have provided a communications channel between our customers and prospects that not only reveals a more human side to our business but also allows people to directly communicate with us.

Okay, But What is Social Media? Below is my definition of the term "social media". You may find that our use of a blog resonates with this definition and you would be correct. A blog is a social media tool.

Social media is a set of tools that when executed correctly help in the building of personal and business relationships and networks - which when you think about it is what a good sales person does constantly build their network.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube.. the list goes on. They are all social media tools that can help you with inbound marketing.

Reality Check with Social Media Tools The most important thing to remember as a business owner when looking at social media tools is to not assume that having a blog, a Facebook page or a Twitter account is going to be the best thing for your business.

You need to first identify how your customers and propsects want to deal with you. For example a blog's topic and frequency is controlled by approved authors normally the staff. Once a blog post is published only then can the public respond but of course only respond within the context of the post. A forum environment allows the public to start a topic of their choice thus giving control to the public not the business.

Social Media ROI? I need to sort this out quick smart as well.

Basically there is no real ROI measurement that can directly provide you with the conversions you need to prove that the time and effort you put into using social media is worth it. Think back to all those coffee expense claims your sales reps submit each month. Did each coffee result in a sale? I doubt it and you would not measure the expense in that way.

You can of course measure the traffic coming to your web site via the different social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube but if the bulk of that traffic did not covert to a sale would that mean social media has failed? My opinion is that it does not nor should you think apply those metrics to using social media.

Whew! The summary! Social media tools help greatly in forming a community of customers and prospects that think highly of your business because the tools allow for more direct and transparent access to you.

Will this take effort on your part? Absolutely! But we have found the rewards to exceed the effort involved. We have been rewarded with:

Great feedback about our product and willing free testers for the latest releases of our software,
Increased business referrals that have dramatically increased our pipeline of opportunities.
An increase of traffic to our web site from search results that include discussion about our business in the social media networks and not forgetting our blog posts.


But remember you first need to understand how your customers and prospects want to communicate with you. Only then should you select the social media tools that provide the environment they want.

You will constantly need to review the effectiveness of the tools you have implemented. You may need to remove some of the current ones and replace with other tools.

I hope that this discussion has helped you understand what is social media and why you should be using it for your business.

If you have further questions please ask it the comments section below.

How do you think social media will help your business?

Marc Krisjanous writes about social media and how small business can use the channels to increase their brand awareness.

How Social Media Can Help Your Business

I get lots of questions from different people on "How can all this social media stuff like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Squidoo, Digg, YouTube, Blogs help me?"

So lets first define Social Media, with Wikipedia's Definition: Social Media is a form of internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in various social media including writing content that is remarkable, unique, and newsworthy. Lastly Social Media utilizes social networking and user-generated content platforms to promote a product, service or content.

Now that being said...necessary tools for Social Media are bookmarks, blogs, forums, podcasts, networks, communities, wikis. Important and versatile sites are places like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Myspace, Digg, Stumbleupon and Squidoo.

The number one point to remember is this

..Due to Social media marketing being so easy to implement and it being so affordable, it is of significant importance to small businesses.

So where do I start?

By a long shot, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook were the top four social media tools used by marketers, with Twitter leading the pack. All the other social media tools paled in comparison to these top four. Download Social Media Marketing Industry report.

How do I measure the effectiveness of social media?

A significant 81% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated exposure for their businesses. Check out Social Media Marketing Report. Improving traffic and growing lists was the second major benefit, followed by building new partnerships. A rise in search engine rankings is also an evident increase, as well as a reduction in your overall marketing expenses. Now that is some GOOD news...if your not involved in Social Media Marketing...then it's TIME!

StartupNation does make a valid point when it says that many small businesses have failed to embrace the opportunities in social media marketing.

If that's you, then speak with an Internet marketing consultant or do your own research of how social media marketing can help you. It would be beneficial for you and your company.

Last year in February, an article came out on "Social Media Will Change Your Business"

It's a good read with some great links for blog writing. One of the paragraph talks about "grabbing you by the collar, and shaking you into action" and that was written LAST YEAR! All in all there is some important information for newbies and veterans alike. The story of the google employee that got fired is one of them...because it shows how fast social media can work.

Another way Social Media can help your business is the customer relationship.

As a business you would be interested in creating a dialog, direct and immediate feedback benefits, and to learn directly from your customers on what has been successful and what areas need focus and enhancement. Sharing content is the real power and the advantage of using social media. Businesses can keep their online community up to date with news, events and what the business has to offer.

Ezine @rticles has some great thoughts on Blogging, Relationship Marketing, Customer Voice and Social Marketing. Customer Voice is a huge one this year which is where Twitter or blogs have been the most efficient.

Customers want voice in your business...give you feedback.

Relationship Marketing

Is also top in 2009 as a tool to build loyalty, along with a timely response, or you can have a blog and a Twitter account as these all have interaction with the customer. These also allow you to create a personality for your business as well as develop an image as a forward-thinking company that is responsive. Responses include Tweeting back on Twitter, a FaceBook response, sending a personable card, thank-you card and a quick thinking of you card. A top of the line online card system that is extremely affordable and saves you time and effort is SendoutCards. The fastest, most affordable Relationship Marketing tool online with over 13,000 cards available along with gifts and gift cards. You write it, they print it, stuff it, stamp it and mail it for you. Can't beat that deal!

Facebook for Business!..

Yes you read that correctly...Facebook for business is very real...read this artlcle: Facebook's Latest Design Update Helps Businesses part of it reads "With the latest evolution, Facebook makes its service more valuable to businesses."

Here's another good one to check out: 30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook great read from Mashable The Social Media Guide.

What is LinkedIn? and why should I be a part of that?

If you're running a small Internet business or have a regular brick-and-mortar business, "knowing" the right people and being able to ask and answer questions significant to your business will help you build your network with contacts. Someone you know in your line of business is already on LinkedIn. You just need to set up a profile, start introducing yourself around, join groups and discussions, start discussions with any questions, or answer discussions with your expertise in your area. What a wonderful way to reach beyond the limits of time and travel to someone else who is like minded and able to discuss important things, answer questions all in a few lines.

Never heard of a Squidoo lens before?

A Squidoo lens is a free web page that states what you are interested in...it could be as simple as a recipe if your a restaurant, to as complex as how to take the perfect picture. Along with links to anyplace you want, you can join groups, be a lens master, create as many pages as you want and get the word out!..

StumbleUpon...great name...what does it do?

Here's how it works. Install the toolbar, identify some categories you like on the web, then hit the Stumble button. The service takes you to a web page that is popular with people who share your interests. You've got the option to give that page a thumbs up, a thumbs down or just leave it by hitting the Stumble button again. Over time the service learns what you like and integrates that into the decisions it makes in sending you someplace new when you hit the button. If you're a small business with very good content, submit that content to stumbleupon. When these people finally will shop they will shop in their local area and an most of them will use Google to do it. Yes you will stand out with a Stumbler in this sea of 10. Try it...you'll be surprised!

What has Social Media done for me?

I really enjoy meeting new people, creating new relationships, networking along side people with like interests, and using the tools available to generate opportunities and provide insight to help others. As a business owner, I have enjoyed the benefits of Social Media, it's simple approach with countless of avenues. I also enjoy presenting this knowledge for others to use as it would benefit them by building relationships with other like-minded businesses and entrepreneurs along with keeping their customer base informed of products, generate better customer relations and service.

Social Media has opened a whole new door for businesses and individuals alike.

Social Media is the solution for your business...have you gotten on board yet?

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