Social Media - NOT simply a trend
Those in the know with regard to marketing are no longer wondering if their business should be active in Social Media, they have realised that it is a necessity. User-generated content e.g. reviews, ratings etc are an essential element of any thorough search program.
Nowadays it’s not a question of ‘if’, but ‘how’ to get the most impact out of this very powerful tool – Social Media. With the correct strategy, you can communicate directly with your target market, engage discussion and gain valuable feedback.
It’s not just something your teenager is busy with on his or her Smartphone - it’s the way business is moving.
An effective Social Media program will make your more prominent in cyberspace, and prominence is important for Google search rankings. Not sure where exactly to focus your online presence? Here are a few tips that will help you get started.
Facebook
Build a fan base for your business on Facebook. The 'likes' on Facebook are a fast working marketing tool that can virally create awareness of your company and or product by delivering information to the news feeds of everyone befriended by your companies’ fans.
Twitter
Keep followers up to date, as well as engaging them to comment. Twitter is not there to drive sales, people don’t want to be barraged with specials, product news etc. A social platform like Twitter isn't a sales driver; it's a far subtler marketing tool. It has enormous value, even though it is hard to measure. Excellent for building brand awareness and loyalty, if you use it in the correct way. Examples of valuable tweets are links to interesting blogs, articles, research stats, industry news etc. Any customer complaints should be responded to immediately.
It is also a great way to put a personal face on your business. So try to keep it casual and fun. Twitter is an informal medium. But keep the casualness of your tone relevant to the business you’re in. Don’t risks devaluing your business’s reputation.
According to the lasts stats by Pew, thirteen percent of adults online are now on Twitter. 54% of users with a mobile phones access Twitter via that route. Twitter usage of 30-49 year olds has doubled since November 2010.
YouTube
Embedding videos on your site as well as your social profile pages, adds the human element to your business’s face, and I way of communication information in a more user friendly way i.e. not having to read – but just watch and listen.
So there you have a few of the basic starters for Social Media and how it can work for you. It is a long-term, ongoing responsibility. It takes time and patience, dedication and work to build you brand awareness…so keep at it, and in time the results will speak for themselves.
The figures are growing….and Social Media has proven it is not just a trend, it is the way the world has moved….so keep up – or your business will be left behind.
If you find this all a little overwhelming, smudge can assist you with all your Social Media requirements. Have a chat to us on how to move forward before you get left behind.
For more interesting statistics on the Social Media phenomenon view this intriguing YouTube video clip.
Why is a ‘functioning marketing-tool’ website so important
In this age of modern technology, social media and search engine intelligence…not having a website is no longer an option, but simply slapping any website up onto the World Wide Web may be more detrimental than having no site at all.
As more and more people are now using the internet as their first point of call when looking for a particular product or service, your website is now a significant marketing tool, it is your brand, your identity, your presence to the online world.
With this in mind – you can begin to see the importance of your site – not only in how it looks, but more significantly its usability and searchability.
I like to use the comparison of a shopping mall in relation to your site on the World Wide Web.
If the web is a shopping mall and your site is one of the many stores therein, in competition with all the other stores (websites) for the consumer’s attention, what would you consider good marketing practice to attract customers to your store?
Imagine that you have the most wonderful products, beautifully displayed, competitively prices, all at the back of the store, but your storefront windows are blacked out, or boarded up, or the door is locked and nobody can get in. This would be the equivalent - in website terms – of having a homepage with no links to the important content within your site, or a homepage that is entirely flash based, thus preventing search engines from finding any of your links.
So in the ‘mall scenario’, nobody is able to find you, or see what you have to offer in your store. They will just walk on by – and not see all the hard work you have done to make your store so enticing on the inside.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is so vital. When somebody types a phrase into Google, you need to be one of the companies that come up on the first page, or it is very likely that you will be passed over for another company who does feature on that page. So the content of your site, your keywords, metatags and a wide variety of other tools for improving SEO are very important, or once again your ‘storefront windows’ look boarded up to passers-by. They are not even aware that you are open for business.
Usability is another key issue. In the shopping mall scenario - if somebody were in fact to enter your ‘store’ and find the items they were looking for, but then all the pay points were down, or they were unable to find a store assistant to ask for help, would they perhaps put the items back and leave the store? Would they come back to your store, or would the experience leave such a bad impression that they never return?
These usability issues can occur with a website. Links are broken, a user is unable to find contact details, too much irrelevant information makes it difficult to find pertinent information, the site takes too long to load etc. Having a site that looks good is important – but at the same time it should not be taking anything away from the usability experience – the user wants to find what they are looking for and leave… they don’t want to spend hours trawling around for something – because then they may as well give up and go to a competitors site.
So to sum up – your website is the online representation of your company, both in looks and in functionality. It needs to be searchable and easy to use. A bad impression is worse than no impression at…..so make sure your site is giving a good one.
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