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social media

Last year Twitter usage grew 422%. In February this year, it hit the frankly ridiculous growth rate of 1,382% according to Nielsen Online. There is some suggestion that growth has peaked further recently, but no matter which way you look at it, Twitter is huge.

Twitter has the ability to turn every day chatter into a must have marketing tool and invaluable source of intelligence for businesses, while engaging potential consumers in a way that seems to have become increasingly tricky for traditional media.

For many people, advertising has increasingly come to be seen as an irritating interruption. Consumers, once a captive audience, now fast-forward ads on their digital TVs, complain about pop-ups on the internet and treat emails from companies they are otherwise happy to do business with as spam.

With Twitter, you choose to hear from people and more importantly interact with people in a two-way dialogue. Companies, including Starbucks, already use Twitter to pump out their latest offers to those customers that sign up. Much of the mainstream media is using it to promote their content, offering links to articles in newspapers, magazines or promoting events and product launches.

There is simply no avoiding social media within your marketing plan and for those of you that are not Tweeting, you could be missing out on a great deal of business. Using Social Media tools as part of your marketing plan is a great cost effective method of communicating with your target audience.

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Many businesses and organisations are avoiding using social media and networking because they feel they cannot measure its effectiveness, and worse, do not believe there is any solid return on investment. We frequently find ourselves consoling frustrated marketers that are desperate to inject social media into their business but cannot convince their directors of the benefits.

Our response to the ‘directors’ negative mind block – How does your boss measure return on investment when attending networking luncheons or participating in Associations.

Done correctly, social networking on sites like Twitter or Facebook is really no different – you don’t measure participation based on direct sales, you measure success based on identifying one potential strategic partner, acquiring one actionable bit of advice, or striking up a conversation or two that may eventually lead to developing a new customer. That kind of sounds like a set of solid networking objectives doesn’t it?

Put simply, there simply is no ignoring or escaping social networking. It’s a simple and highly effective extension to your marketing and business communications.

Social media gives your business a voice and a way to communicate with peers, customers and potential consumers. It will personalise your “brand” and help you to spread your message in a relaxed, conversational and often edgy way.

The downside to social media, and quite possibly the sticking point that puts people off, is that you need to keep on top of these tools and build them into your everyday life in order to keep the momentum going and ensure it’s successful.

So how should you build social networking into your marketing?

1. You can use social media to provide an identity to who you are and the products or services that you offer.
2. You can create relationships using social media with people who might not otherwise know about your products, service or what your company represents.
3. Social media makes us “real” to consumers. If you want people to follow you don’t just talk about the latest product news, share it with them and get it in their face!
4. You can use social media to associate your business with your peers. Maybe you serve the same target markets, here strong and prosperous relationships can be built.
5. You can use social media to communicate and provide the interaction that consumers look for.

As you can see, social media carries with it a lot of value and once mastered will give your marketing a edge that will ensure you stay ahead of the competition… don’t be put off by social media, use it to your advantage.