In today’s rapidly changing media environment, I have found that clients, peers, friends and just about every intelligent businessperson I speak with is interested in knowing or improving the ways that social networking can help grow their business.
I constantly hear questions and statements like:
“What should I budget for social networking?”
“Can I replace advertising with social networking?”
“I am building my entire brand on social media.”
Although most would like to hear that social media is the no-cost silver bullet for business success, it is not quite that simple.
Before implementing an online strategy, the first task to consider is what you are trying to achieve via social marketing. Is your goal to build brand awareness or drive immediate online sales of your product or service? In each case, you will need to also understand the behavioral trends for online purchasing and social media of your target audience and determine whether this is an effective medium to reach your demographic.
If social media is deemed right for your company, be aware that with over 600 million users on Facebook alone (not to mention the 75 million profiles on Twitter, 90 million on LinkedIn and countless others), an effective promotional strategy needs to be devised.
Yes, there are some extraordinary social marketing success stories, but the most successful campaigns are carefully planned and professionally produced. Although there are no costs initially, one needs to consider how they are going to attract and engage “followers” to successfully drive visitors to their offering. A well-planned social media strategy can be done on a modest budget. You will need to anticipate a realistic amount of time to create the campaign and build a following. Therefore, if immediate sales are a priority, it is important to also maintain traditional advertising in the mix.