If you are one of the few businesses that have not made the investment in social media, now is the time! Your investment in social media can lead to astronomical returns if you do it right. Here are three reasons that social media marketing should be a major player in your overall marketing strategy.
#1: Social Media Does Not Require A Huge Upfront Investment
When you are using traditional marketing tools, such as direct mail, there is a large investment in creating the marketing materials and getting them into the hands of your ideal prospect. Think about a simple postcard. You have to pay a graphic designer or ad agency for creative services and then a mailing company for postage and fulfillment. The more people who want to reach, the higher the cost will be. With social media, your start-up investment is mostly in the time it takes to set up profiles such as a Facebook Fan Page, a Yelp business page or a Twitter handle since most social media profiles are available for free.
#2: You Do Not Have To Have A Marketing Or Tech Degree To Be Successful
Businesses that have found success in using social media have often had a DIY approach. Social media does not require that you have programming skills. Of course it is helpful if you understand basic marketing practices of knowing your demographic and understanding customer behavior, but a more technical degree does not always equate to success in social media marketing. Studying up on social media can be as simple as finding a great social media expert's blog and following their advice or paying a social media consultant to get you up and running.
#3: Results Are Driven By Activity Rather Than Capital
In old school marketing, the amount of money you spent dictated how many people you reached. In social media marketing, some of the most well documented social media successes have come from a viral approach that was based on activity rather than dollars spent in advertising or PPC. It can be as simple as posting a funny video or an inspirational message that gets your followers' attention and goes viral. The important thing to remember in social media marketing is that much of it is trial and error. Some things work, some do not. Learn from your successes and understand that it is an ongoing process that ebbs and flows.
If you are not sure how to get started, there are many social media companies with affordable start-up packages. The key is to get started immediately. The Internet is waiting for the next best thing to go viral.
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A really good post. I would like to add that results come to those who are consistent. Just like the article said you learn through trial and error but be consistent.
Great post and I love tip #3! It takes work but those who put in the time, see the biggest rewards. I try and teach the whole “be social” thing but some business owners just want to share info on their business. It doesn’t work like that. Some ask why we post quotes/funny images and I explain it; SOCIAL media for a reason. Keep them entertained and then it makes it much easier when you self-promote. I like the 90/10 rule myself.
This is true, social media is really important in any business now days and beyond, but it’s a continues and time consuming proccess, a business still needs to invest in employees and in social media advertising, and like you said to a social media consultant.
#2 is the most controversial. I argue with people all the time about this. Most people believe that you have to (need to) have formal education (aka go to collage for a few years) in order to “learn” something at professional level. So untrue. Especially with Internet Marketing.
I agree Kim. I used to spend quite a bit of time working on Google but I soon discovered social media was what I needed if I wanted to make any headway. It’s all about engagement and social media has all the tools to do just that.
Very true! and very well written article. Thanks for sharing. Social media are the best platform today. I like reading and blogging about various Business and Marketing strategies.
Hello KIM GARST very nice and true. A very good written article. I also loved very much your article 3. awesome and it’s really true.
Thanks
#1 Social media is not free as we pay for it with our time BUT it does not require a huge monetary investment to get started outside of time so I stick to #1 🙂
#2 I do not even bring up your points so I am not sure how we can disagree on that :-)…you don’t need a college degree to BE social and do social well.
Thanks for leaving some great feedback, Chip.