Social Media Marketing: Factors influencing online marketing for You!
With the advent of newer media and technology tools, social media marketing is growing in every field and industry.
Why so?
The user is everywhere and the customers are all around. So that is where you need to be there too.
Why has social media marketing today become so prominent and focused on?
It’s simple. When you are a brand (existing) new or old at micro or macro level there are conversations happening online about your product and services in real-time. So the question here simply is, would you rather have your competitor cash in on the conversation or would you yourself like to be a part of the interaction prism and channelize the leads your way?
Moreover, one needs to be clear of few things about social media marketing:
- It is not about social networking websites alone
- It is not about just having a blog or a forum page
- It does not matter if you have a zillion fans only
So what makes the real deal about social media marketing work?
Firstly, one needs to be clear that “People buy from people” and secondly, one needs to clearly understand that you cannot sell to peoplewho are online to stay connected with friends and peers .
So, DO NOT SELL, but instead CONNECT with your customer.
Let them develop the trust in you and be the brand ambassador for you instead. It goes a long way.
So what does a social media quotient measure from a social media marketing campaign?
When you are able to humanize your brand by becoming one in conversation with your target group (which means you need to reach the right target group, even online) you can deliver (giving is the beginning of building a humanized brand to show you care) concrete (be realistic and precise in what is being offered) and credible (earn the trust) easy to consume information, resources and help.
Reaching through forums, blogs and other facebook communities, linkedin groups, twitter platforms and such other relevant to “YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE” locations will get you to your customer. So make sure you use not too many but at least two or three platforms to spread across and connect.
What can you expect from your social media marketing team?
- Firstly, make sure you assign them the right goals which are on top of your organizational priorities.
- Then make sure your ‘team’ whether in-house or an external agency has the relevant credentials (Professional background and academic excellence) to back up the product and or service online.
Why?
It’s your brand out there. So make sure the one handling it, understands it well enough.
So a good branding experience is essential to nurture the brands and at the same time a wonderful academic credential into the field of marketing research and management ensures your product is not going into the hands of just another “oversized” advertising agency or a “freelancer” trying to prove they are part of the online new age marketing media.
With this also make sure that before the social media marketing campaign is planned, designed and implemented, the team or agency are showing enough ‘types’ of data tracking, brand monitoring and product analysis demographics from their end.
You can ask for a brand analysis or better, their process to plan the campaign for your product in a detailed step by step flow with details of what will be tracked. If the answer is web hits or just ‘members’ to your social networking groups, you know you are not with the right set of team.
What you need here is someone who can assess not only your brand but also your top priority goals which can be anything from building up a powerful presence across online to launching a product across specific platforms and offer it in a realistic and reasonable timeline. It’s your brand, your product in their hands so make sure it is in safe hands.
Should you be investing on any sort of adwords of different CPC (Cost per click) models?
It depends on your budget. To start with, essentially do not invest in tools where control over clicks is not in your hands. For eg. If you have invested even a small sum of Rs.10/- (INR) per click on a keyword and if you have a set of online competitors who might even for the fun of it make possible 1000 garbage clicks (garbage clicks are those which your competitors or other random users click and land on your site a day which is of utterly no use for which you anyway end up paying) in a span of lets say 30 days in the month, you are ending up paying Rs.10,000/- (INR) per month for literally nothing.
So invest rather in resourceful knowledge providing forums, blogs which may be maintained by professionals in the field with credentials and testimonials to vouch for the same. This will not only be economical but also give you an up-start in the field of online brand building in a powerful way for a long term purpose.
Thus, proper exposure to brand and marketing both, professionally and academically, measurable statistics relevant to your industry and product information, with a powerful SEO knowledge presence would make up for a team of social media marketing consultants whether in-house or external.
At least you know, you have invested in the right place for something that’s going to keep you connected and growing both brand wise and presence wise.
How else would you be able to justify your ROI (return on investment).
So make sure you understand completely the factors that go into influencing the social media marketing techniques for measuring your true social media quotient across platforms.
Right opportunity, technological resource, brand monitoring, reaching the right target, positioning your brand the correct way, optimizing the utility factor of these power packed online marketing tools as a business function with set of pre defined goals and timelines ensures social media marketing for you as not a fashionable fad but a resource that you cannot afford to ignore.
Stay Connected. Give us your views at socialmedia@techdivine.com
You can tweet with us here @techdivine
Regards
Ananth V
Techdivine Creative Services
Connect with me:
@Ananthv9 on Twitter
@Ananthv9 on foursquare
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