It’s clear that social media has grown dramatically over the last few years and that with an increase of than 800 million active users, the amount of Facebook users is easily more than twice the size of the complete population of america!
Its growth has been astronomical now, millions of people are posting more personal and business information online than previously. It’s happening at lightning speed with a large number of posts, tweets and uploads occurring every hour.
Recent research conducted by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) commissioned by Sensis Pty Ltd (May 2011, p. 10) indicates, that “62% of Australian Internet surfers use a variety of social media marketing sites, with many visiting each day and most at least a few times a week.” It’s no real surprise that with the millions of prospective customers from all over the world using these sites, each day, that so many businesses have decided to include social media marketing into their marketing mix. Nonetheless it also important to get an understanding of how these sites are increasingly being used and what’s involved with maintaining or resourcing your business presence on these sites. Your web footprint can stick around for some time so don’t underestimate how this can affect the perception of one’s brand available in the market place. Spend some time upfront thinking about whether social media marketing is right for your business.
1. Seek first to understand – It is vital that you understand the basics of how is social media marketing really works and how it’s being used. What are people and businesses doing with social media? What gets them results? A few of you may be thinking, how do you do this? Perhaps you could consider trying it out for yourself by setting up an individual account, then testing a number of the features, or get a trusted friend showing you their account and guide you through. Alternatively you can find so many resources and ‘how to’ items online about social media, you could run a search on Google or on YouTube on a specific topic of interest watching the video tutorials to get informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What’s your purpose is for using social media marketing? What do you desire to achieve for your business by using it? It’s really essential that you identify your purpose so you can get involved in social media marketing (or any other marketing activity for example). You need to work out why you are engaging. What do you be prepared to achieve? Do you simply want to build brand awareness, engage with your visitors or identify new sales opportunities? Remember to be realistic about what you think you will be able to attain.
3. If you decide to engage in social media, which sites are best for you? – With the plethora of social media sites available, which ones are best for the business? Consider where your target audience would socialize online, and think about the amount of time and resources you’ll realistically be able to commit to maintaining and administering your site presence. Which ones are right for you? You might find that some certainly are a better fit than others.
4. Quality Content – In the event that you decide that social media is right for your business, carefully consider the amount and quality of information you wish to share in the web sphere. Remember Luxury Travel Experiences ‘ll probably stay there for years, so you need to make sure it accurate and reliable information that’s valuable to your market. It must be relevant, otherwise people won’t read it.
