Social media sites are not for personal socializing alone, but are valuable platforms for businesses to use to create awareness about their presence online. Thousands of businesses have already embraced social media and are using it effectively to promote their products and services. But at the same time, there are an equal number that have steered clear of social media. Such businesses do not realize how much social media has to offer, since it can fit in perfectly with the company's targets.
The resistance to joining social media often comes from the top, who do not feel the need for joining Facebook and Twitter. They perhaps do not have a clear picture of what social media entails and all that it represents. The following facts about social media need to be known:
Social media's reach and size- Social media networks like Facebook and Twitter have memberships of 500 million and 300 million users respectively. The cost involved in accessing such a huge number of prospective clients is minimal and sending targeted messages is far simpler. Social media offers various filters by which people of a specific age group, preferences, tastes, education etc can be contacted.
Social media sites helps identify peer groups- Peer groups, friends and acquaintances that are lost in the crowd, can be reached through these networks and get them acquainted with the business products and services. Known people are easier to convince to become customers. Business partners who are present on social media help to convince others to join as well.
Participating in conversation about industry and brands- Social networks are a platform used for conversations about products and brands as well. Seeing the interest among members pertaining to the business, shows the need to join and add to the discussion, helping the public see the owners' side of the story. It is an easy way to get to know public opinion and act on it, and if the network is joined, this will become a regular practice and customer reactions to changes and improvement s can also be tracked.
Learn from others' success- There are endless success stories about businesses that joined social media networks and benefited from them. From Dell and Ford to Starbucks, the whole spectrum of businesses is being covered by social media sites , and they have learned to improve customer service, and clock higher sales. There is no reason why all businesses should not reap the same benefits.
Learn about challenges from competitors- When information is the key, social media sites are the best way to get access to information from competitors. It is a good idea to see how they are using these networks and do better than them to improve the business.
Social media is not a short term phenomena- Social media is going to stay, and move from success to success. Businesses which do not ride with its success will lose out on tremendous business opportunities, by forfeiting a chance to be in touch with prospective customers worldwide.
What Social media can do for business- Social media is one great way to improve on sales, provide better customer service, help in public relations, expand a customer and contact base, and above all, provide insights into the innermost thoughts of the customer.
Social media sites have so much to offer that businesses will lose out in the race to success if they stay away from them.
This is a Guest post by Neil Jones, who Specializes in launching ecommerce sites. He is currently plying his trade as head of marketing for eMobileScan. With 18 websites based all around Europe they are on course to be one of Europe's largest online retailers of Industrial handheld computers and label printers like the Motorola MC75a or the ES400. Neil has been an online marketer for the past 6 years and in that time he has owned and run a range of sites all built around the ecommerce platform.
