Are you a believer in "Word of Mouth (WOM) advertising?" Social Media is "amplified" word of mouth marketing.
WOM is important for every business. Why? Because every satisfied customer can steer new ones your way. More importantly, it is more credible to most people because they trust that the person who is advocating your business is putting their own reputation on the line and have nothing to gain but the listener's appreciation.
Sometimes called conversation marketing, Social Media is at its core, about using social media tools to build relationships, trust and credibility with prospects and customers. Sometimes likened to a "cocktail party," a more apt description might be the movie "Multiplicity" where Michael Keaton was able to clone himself to be in many places at one time. Social Media allows you to tell your story to more people in a month than some might meet through traditional networking in a lifetime.
Why is Social Media valuable for business?
Traditional marketing is about pushing your message out to mass audiences or lists in hopes of getting a typically small response rate. Social Marketing on the other hand, is more about engaging in a two-way conversation with your prospects and customers creating new connections, new traffic, and new business for your company. By creating and publishing relevant, valuable content for your community your business develops powerful relationships while learning a great deal in return about your customers and prospects and how they view your products and services.
Benefits of Social Media for Business
What are the benefits of a Social Media Marketing campaign to you and your business? Here is a short list:
- Greater exposure for your business
- Increased traffic / subscriptions / opt ins
- New business partnerships and relationships
- Low or No cost customer research
- Expanded Customer Relationship Management
- Improved search engine results
- Qualified leads
- Reduced overall marketing costs
- Improved closing ratio's
What are the most commonly Used Social Media Tools?
There are over 300 Social Media options by our count, and the number grows almost daily. Keeping up with the ever changing Social Media landscape is a priority for our team at Business Link Marketing. We do the work to stay current, keeping our eye on trends and future Social Media options so you don't have to do so. Here is our list of the most commonly used Social Media Tools:
- Blogging
- Twitter (and other micro blogging options)
- Social Networks: (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)
- YouTube (and other video sharing sites)
- Social Bookmarking sites (Digg, Reddit, etc)
- Forums
- Podcasts
Are you using one or more of these social media tools?
How do you begin?
Request a complimentary consultation to see how to get started on a Social Media Marketing plan with Business Link Marketing.
Find out more about Social Media Marketing for your business here.