Will Social Media Marketing Work for You?
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Mon, Jan 17, 2011
Nielson, in their recent report “Internet & Social Media Consumer Insights” revealed that over 20% of online time is spent with social media. Over 75% of U.S. households use social networking and the time spent on it has doubled from 3 to 6 hours per month in the past 2 years.
This may come as no surprise to those actually spending 6 hours per month on social media. I personally know several people who are on it for way longer than that! I am not one of them, by the way.
Social media marketing has also grown exponentially in the last couple of years. For some marketers, in fact, the rise of social media feels like an onslaught. Regardless of your opinion about how useful it is or if it’s a good way to spend your time, though, the truth is that social media has changed online marketing forever. The question for business becomes—is it a good investment of time and resources?
To answer the question, take a look at your business and determine if social media is a good fit for it. Try this checklist:
1. Your organization- What is your human resource situation? Who will take on the role of social media administrator?
2. Your goals- What do you want social media to do for you? For example, do you need better communication with customers? More targeted sales opportunities? Would you like to know more about what’s going on in your industry from the front lines?
3. Your audience- What are your concerns? Do you want to know more about the needs and wants of your customers? Where they hang out online? How they share information?
4. Your strategy- Are you committed to content marketing strategy? Can you regularly create fresh content to share with your audience? This refers to your organization and your human resources, but also whether you believe that content marketing is the way to go.
5. Your tactics- Are you comfortable with media sharing? Social media requires sharing of information which could come in the form of blogging, posting of comments and links, meetups, tweeting etc.
And, as with any marketing tool, social media has to be able to deliver measurable results for you and your business. Think about these key questions:
- Will social media generate enough direct revenue to offset the staff time required?
- Will it open up opportunities in new markets?
- Is it effective enough to get customers to click to buy or visit a store?
- What level of time investment are you willing to make?
- Could social media lead to collaboration opportunities?
- Does this effort align with existing initiatives?
Social media for marketing purposes, unlike for personal use, has to offer a good return on investment. Marketing dollars are hard to come by these days, and your efforts have to count. That’s why it’s important to think about these points before you jump in and potentially waste valuable time, effort and money on social media efforts that don’t address your needs.
Like any other content marketing tool, social media will only prove useful if you put the horse first. It’s a content marketing tool. So, I suggest that you first learn about content marketing.
And keep in mind that, if your employees are typical, they’re spending over 5 hours per month on social media while at work anyway. If you decide that social media will fit into your marketing plan, you can tap into that time to help make your business grow.