There are over 1.125 billion social media users worldwide. Users are not just visiting social sites, but rather spending about 22% of their online time on social sites (Roberts & Zahay, 2013). Therefore, it has increased the importance of organizations using social sites for marketing purposes. There are many ways social sites can be used to market and multiple benefits of doing so. However, it is also important that companies understand ways to effectively use social sites to ensure the success of social media marketing.
Social media marketing can be defined
as, “Business use of selected social media channels to understand customers and
to engage them in communication and collaboration in ways that lead to the
achievement of ultimate marketing and business goals (Roberts & Zahay,
2013).” Companies use social media
marketing for a variety of reasons. Most
companies use it for the purpose of generating exposure for their business,
increasing traffic, building new business partnerships, helping the company
rise in search rankings, generating qualified leads, helping the company sell
products/services, or reducing overall marketing expenses (Roberts & Zahay,
2013). Some common social media sites
throughout the United States include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, MySpace,
LinkedIn, Friendster, Orkut, Tagged, Xanga, Flicker, and Tumblr.
One advantage of using social sites
for marketing is that the message gets in front of large audiences
quickly. Facebook alone has over 500
million users worldwide, and about 50% of them log onto it everyday (Roberts
& Zahay, 2013). 85% of businesses
that use social sites for marketing reasons do so with the intention of
generating exposure for the company (Roberts & Zahay, 2013). Another benefit of using social media
marketing is that it is cost effective.
Social media marketing is generally free, unlike most other sources of
marketing (McAlister-Holand, 2012). The
only real resource that is usually needed to make a successful social media
marketing attempt is time. It takes a
great deal of time to plan and implement a social media marketing site that is
going to be attractive and attention getting for customers. Another benefit of using social media
marketing is that it improves employee engagement and internal collaboration
within an organization (Roberts & Zahay, 2013). Ultimately, social media marketing is very
beneficial because it gets the message in front of a large audience, around the
world, quickly, and for a low cost.
Another benefit of social media marketing is that it creates a sense of community
(Roberts & Zahay, 2013). Social
media marketing messages appear in front of a select target audience. Those in that audience that are interested in
the message/page forward it on to share it with friends, getting the message in
front of more people, and this continues to happen. It also creates a community in the sense that
people can read about other’s thoughts and opinions, as well as share their own
thoughts and opinions. Social media
marketing becomes a two way communication method between a business and
customers, which in turn can make a community.
One of the most important things
that a company can do when participating in social media marketing is to
understand and listen to their target audience.
It is essential to first determine where the audience can be located
(McAlister-Holand, 2012). Generally
young males could be found on more gaming type sites, whereas young females
could be found on more social chatting type sites. Another important concept when using social
media marketing is to engage the audience with relevant communications
(McAlister-Holand, 2012). Sending out
different messages on a somewhat regular basis keeps the audience more engaged
than just posting everything at one time.
Responding to people’s blogs, comments, messages, etc. is also another
way to engage the audience. Another
important thing to do when using social media marketing is to make the audience
feel like winners (McAlister-Holand, 2012).
When it comes down to it, people like to win and people like free things. Competitions or contests of some sort bring
the company and their social media site into the spotlight, attracting a lot of
new leads and potential customers (McAlister-Holand, 2012). Competitions or contests are most effective
if they are repeatable, simple, and fun (McAlister-Holand, 2012). Quizzes that are fun and appealing can also
be a good way to get people to engage with the company social media site.
In a world that thrives on social
media sites, the importance of businesses using social media marketing has
increased. In order to be successful
however, a company needs to understand how to effectively use the different
sites to reach out to the intended audiences.
Social media marketing offers a great deal of benefits to companies.
References:
McAlister-Holand,
D. (2012). Social Media Marketing: or Marketing on Social Networks ?.
Sales & Service Excellence, 12(9),
1-2.
Roberts,
M. L., & Zahay, D. L. (2013). Internet Marketing: Integrating Online and
Offline
Strategies (3rd ed.).
Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
