Making the Most of Social Media

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Promoting a business is not done the same way as it was 20 years ago. This is a fact that has been reiterated time and again. Everyone is well aware of the impact the Internet has had on marketing. Email marketing, banner ads and other methods of connecting with customers have changed the playing field from the time when television commercials were as exotic as marketing got. However, something that has slipped past many marketing professionals is that promotion is not the same as it was even three years ago. Social media is king, and there are more ways for a smart business owner to reach his audience than ever before. Take a look at some of the unique ways companies small and large have reached utilized social media to reach a new audience.

Making the Most of Social Media

Making the Most of Social Media: Facebook

The one social media site that rules them all at the moment is Facebook. Unlike many other sites that have a niche or purpose, Facebook does it all—even if it can’t do each thing quite as well as the specialty sites. According to Statistic Brain, there are 1.2 billion Facebook users worldwide and the average user is on the site for 15 hours 33 minutes each month. The best thing about Facebook users is that they are generally okay with receiving marketing messages from their favorite brands. By “liking” a page, they opt-in to receiving updates through their news feed. Using the tools on Facebook is a great way for companies to interact with their customer base and reach a new audience. For instance, cloud hosting company Rackspace uses their Facebook page to promote their customer support model and engage regularly with customers.

Making the Most of Social Media: Twitter

The other “big gun” in social media is Twitter. While Facebook is about the big picture, Twitter focuses on the small message. Each tweet from a member is 140 characters or less. But in that little tweet, there is a big opportunity. As stated in an article by TwitTip, building a Twitter relationship is more about helping followers than marketing to them. Twitter users are a smart bunch and will see if all a Twitter account is doing is pumping advertising at them. However, smart marketers will realize how beneficial it is to connect with followers and build their trust by giving a glimpse into the people behind the business. Many individuals have marketed themselves in this way; consider the big news in summer 2012 when Charlie Sheen decided to leave Twitter!

The Other Guys

Depending on your business, some of the smaller social networks may be the way to reach your core audience. Pinterest is growing by leaps and bounds; crafters, amateur chefs and other creative types have embraced this resource. Even sites like YouTube are social networks of a kind, since they encourage the sharing of information socially. An article by Steven Papas shows how picture sharing sites Instagram and Flickr are an important part of a social media marketing campaign.

Social media marketing is a vital part of any company’s overall promotion plan. Smart marketing professionals will not allow themselves to become stuck on any one way of reaching their core audience as the field will likely continue to grow and change in years to come.

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  • http://www.socialmediaexperts4u.com Mili

    Hi Jesse, Thanks for the post and I couldn’t agree more, I am in the business of social media marketing and have made a lot of money from this over the past few years as social media is every day becoming closer to the most important form of marketing a company I can have and the big bonus of using social media for your company is that it is free. Personally I think within the next few years social media marketing will be the biggest player in the marketing industry and if you are not doing it as a company you will be missing out big time. Thanks again

  • http://www.magnet4marketing.net Fabrizio Van Marciano

    Great post Jesse and thank you. Social media marketing is a much talked about subject and I know that more businesses are starting to implement social media into their marketing strategy, but there are still many small businesses out there, ones that even I speak to on a weekly basis that don’t get involved with social media. When I ask why more often than not the answer that I get is that they don’t believe it will make a difference. I think because some companies who have been sticking it out using old school marketing tactics, word of mouth etc, don’t realize just how big social media actually is, and to be fair social media is word of mouth.

  • http://www.weightlossdiets4women.com Mariella Lombardi

    Hi Jesse,
    social media is obviously an important marketing tool. I have read about this a lot lately and it seems that many companies designate people to take care of their social media needs. It is getting more and more competitive so it is necessary to use as many social media sites as possible. I find LinkedIn to be quite useful for meeting contacts for example.

  • http://antjemeier.snappages.com Antje

    Useful tips, this way of online advertising must be one of the most efficient ones. And fortunately, these services are free yet. But I am afraid, Facebook won’t be free for companies much longer…

  • Samantha Wright

    Hi Jesse, it’s always an interesting debate regarding Twitter and Facebook. These two are by far the Goliath of social media, but social media is constantly seeing more and more new sites cropping up and it’s hard to avoid it, as well as risky business to avoid it. Pinterest has boomed into the SM spotlight, and I agree with what’s being said, over the next few years social media will play the largest roll in online marketing for many businesses. All I’ll say is don’t put it off any longer.

  • http://www.rancorinfotech.com Aditya

    Hi Jesse,
    SMM is playing a crucial role when it comes to marketing your business through major social media sites.Promoting your business whether its small enterprise or big through these SMM medium is now getting very popular.It seems like SMM is the main food ingredient for business growth land one who don’t feed their business with social media marketing there business it may be possible that their business will not grow at faster rate.

    No one wants to take risks when it comes to marketing their business or product so they are following the trend of SMM.It is of great concern because everyone is glued to Facebook and Twitter so chances are more if you promote your business with these sites.

  • Gene

    I have to disagree a little with you on this post. After all, the most important thing is what can we offer to the potential clients. Social media is merely a place for interaction and consequently, for promotion.

  • http://www.cubbiesforkids.com.au/ Barry Crow

    Hi Jesse,

    Thank you for sharing your great thoughts about social media marketing though I have never tried it yet as I am new to this kind of industry. But, definitely, I have learned something from your article.

  • http://www.buysellwp.com/ BuySellWordpress

    And why didn’t you mention such social networks as Google+ and Pinterest? With the help of them it’s also possible to promote any kind of business.