Social media opportunities that are targeted, effective and low cost (if not free) have exploded with the growing use of media outlets such as Facebook, You Tube, My Space.
Using Facebook and My Space, companies can create pages at no cost that provide information about their services and products. With Facebook, the value doesn’t end there. Members are able to become a “fan” and that has a two-fold advantage for company. First of all, status updates that the company posts (this could be a promotion, new product release, etc.) are available for viewing on the fan’s home page. Secondly, the fan’s “friends” (individuals in their social network) can see that their friend is a fan, leading them to view the company’s page, possibly ending with that person signing up as a fan. In addition, Facebook provides members with a list of “suggestions”; if one or more of a member’s friends is a fan of a company’s page, it automatically is sent to them as a suggestion to become a fan. In a reverse promotion, it is very simple to add a link on a company’s website for a person to become a fan on Facebook.
You Tube is another outlet that companies can use, for free, to show promotional videos. It’s not quite as viral as Facebook, but is a free resource that is available for millions to view. A unique advantage to You Tube is that it provides the number of times the video has been viewed, and a rating system, allowing the company to obtain quantifiable data on the success of the video.
For-profit, large businesses aren’t the only ones to take advantage of this 21st century phenomenon. Small, home-based businesses use these marketing tactics as well as non-profit charities and other private organizations such as churches, fan clubs, television shows, political and interest groups.
For those who think these websites are only for a few thousand Generation Y-ers, welcome to 2010! The latest demographics indicate that My Space has 110 million active monthly users, and Facebook has over 42 million users in the United States alone. Facebook’s largest growing demographic is ages 35-54, growing by 276.4%over the past 6 months alone!
Businesses to jump on the social media marketing bandwagon are growing at exponential rates as well. A study of worldwide online social networking advertising spending reported $445 million spent in 2006, $2.5 billion spent in 2009, with $3.6 billion predicted for 2011.
As with any powerful tool, social media marketing must be managed properly in order to be effective. Subscribers of your pages may post less-than-appealing posts for public viewing, and it is recommended to have an internal manager of these sites to ensure all content is positive and professional.
If you think social media marketing could be an effective and worthwhile tool for your business, get to know the process by becoming members of these networks yourself. Become a fan, view pages and videos of your favorite businesses and organizations. See how they are using it to boost their business, then brainstorm for creative ways to promote your business to millions of potential viewers!
