It’s clear that social media has grown dramatically over the last few years and that with an increase of than 800 million active users, the quantity of Facebook users is easily a lot more than twice the size of the entire population of the United States!
Its growth has been astronomical and today, thousands of people are posting more personal and business information online than previously. It’s happening at lightning speed with thousands of posts, tweets and uploads occurring every hour.
Recent research conducted by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) commissioned by Sensis Pty Ltd (May 2011, p. 10) indicates, that “62% of Australian Internet surfers use a variety of social media sites, with many visiting every day and most at least several times a week.” It’s no real surprise that with the millions of prospective customers from around the globe using these sites, every day, that so many businesses are determined to include social media marketing into their marketing mix. Nonetheless it also important to get a knowledge of how these sites are being used and what’s involved with maintaining or resourcing your organization presence on these sites. Your online footprint can stick around for years so don’t underestimate how this may affect the perception of your brand available in the market place. Spend Social Media Brand Management agency thinking about whether social media is right for your business.
1. Seek first to comprehend – It is crucial that you understand the basics of how is social media actually works and how it’s used. What exactly are people and businesses doing with social media? What gets them results? Some of you may be thinking, how do I do this? Perhaps you could consider trying it out on your own by setting up an individual account, then testing some of the features, or get yourself a trusted friend to show you their account and guide you through. Alternatively you can find so many resources and ‘how to’ items online about social media, that you could run a search on Google or on YouTube on a particular topic of interest watching the video tutorials to get informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What’s your purpose is for using social media marketing? What do you hope to achieve for your business by using it? It’s really essential that you identify your purpose for getting involved in social media (or any marketing activity for that matter). You need to work out why you are engaging. What do you expect to achieve? Do you simply desire to build brand awareness, engage with your visitors or identify new sales opportunities? Be sure you be realistic about what you believe you will be able to achieve.
3. If you decide to engage in social media marketing, which sites are best for you personally? – With the plethora of social media marketing sites available, which ones are best for your business? Consider where your target audience would socialize online, and take into account the period of time and resources you would realistically be able to invest in maintaining and administering your website presence. Which ones are right for you? You might find that some certainly are a better fit than others.
4. Quality Content – In the event that you decide that social media marketing is right for the business, carefully think about the amount and quality of information you wish to share in the online sphere. Remember it’ll probably stay there for some time, so you need to make sure it accurate and reliable information that is valuable to your target audience. It must be relevant, otherwise people will not read it.
