by Jennifer Riley Simone,
Marketing Services Specialist, AGCarmel
Are you sick of hearing about
social media? Think it had nothing to do with your business? Give us two minutes of your time – it will be worth it.
Have you really considered what social media actually is? It is the digital version of the most powerful sales tool out there – word-of-mouth-marketing. A.K.A. a consumer’s most trusted source of buying information. The reality is that today’s customers expect social media to be a part of a company’s brand. They want to interact with the businesses they patronize. They want the opportunity to be your brand evangelist.
Social media is a powerful tool in a marketer’s toolbox. Most of us are familiar with the mainstays -
print, broadcast, and
direct mail. Online media is the new communication channel, which used to be only websites, but now includes social media.
If you think about it, social media is just traditional communication placed on-line: a blog is our newspaper, Flicker is our photo album, YouTube is our TV, Facebook is our coffee klatch, Wikipedia is our encyclopedia, iTunes is our radio, and Twitter is our cocktail party. We are still sharing information with each other - the means just have a new feel to them.
Great. You see how customer communication has changed, but what does this have to do with you? Time to look at the numbers:
• There are 266 million internet users in N. America, and 90% use a social networking site each month.
What this means to you: Your customers are using the web – a lot.
• “Facebook” is the #1 search term for all three major search engines and accounts for 10% of all web page views.
What this means to you: Your customers are using Facebook to find information.
• More than 1.5 million local businesses have an active Facebook Page and 20+million people become Fans everyday.
What this means to you: Your competition is on Facebook and your customers are finding them.
• Finally, think your customers are not using social networking? Take a look:
How many of your remember the late 90s when many people were sure websites were just a fad? To communicate with your customers effectively, your business must be on the web. Today, being on the web means also participating in the world of social media. Want more info?
Email us or send us a Tweet
@AGCarmel