All marketing campaigns need to be part of a social media platform
Y2MATE COM
Social marketing builds relationships, promotes content, and influences consumers before they become interested in your offer. We all like to buy from people we love and trust. When friends recommend products we are more likely to buy them.
The social media platform allows companies to express their personalities and share their hopes. The company can have followers on social media that grow into its promoters. Then these “followers” make a sales peer to match.
However, the social media platform alone may not do enough especially when it comes to selling B2B. Advertising works, but today it works best when it involves part of the social media platform. Combine both and your campaign will have a broader reach and more impact.
“Marketing today is difficult. There are 200 million people in the US” Do Not Call “list. More than 84% of TV viewers agree to skip ads. 44% of direct marketing is not open. About 99.9% of ads in The internet has never been clicked. “Consumers wait until they have completed 60 – 80% of their research before contacting sellers.”
Michael Brenner – Executive Director of Global Marketing at SAP
Why do I need social media marketing to sell to businesses?
Previously businesses were sold through sales reps and sales events. Encourage them with direct marketing and product design. Then with the advent of Google search in 1998 B2B marketing moved to one-click payment (PPC) and SEO. We wanted to be found.
Then the discovery was not enough we needed to provide white papers and downloads to get people on our list. Then we might increase our confidence before we try to sell. Now today SEO and PPC still have a place. In fact, email marketing is still the most productive way to get sales.
However social media interaction drives interaction across the web. With all the links businesses can build peer-to-peer sales rather than business for clients. They can build important relationships and use them to encourage sharing and engagement. That’s why every marketing campaign needs to have a social element.
Statistics from “2012 Social Marketing Marketing Industry Resort” by the Sociil Media Examiner:
• 59% of advertisers use a social media platform 6 hours a week or more
• 74% of marketers report that social media marketing has increased their site traffic
• 85% of advertisers say that the number 1 marketing profit of the platform generates more business exposure
• 93% of B2B advertisers use social media marketing to market their business
Social Media Marketing Basics PICUKI
• Be social – make content interesting, engaging and fun – don’t take yourself too seriously
• Combine social and paid and see powerful results
• You still need good delivery, and engaging web content
• Be sure and have a reason for leaving their data
• Give value first (my motto) – donate as much as you can
• Socializing is two-way so get people involved in the conversation
• Peer-to-peer sharing is a great way to get your message across and heard
Getting started – a few questions you should ask in planning …
This seems hard work and may be a little difficult. Once you have a social media platform you need to bring all the channels in line. You get a great result if you have all the channels that work in concert.
Decide where the content will come from and who will be responsible for follow-up discussions.
Know where your hopes are and go there. It does not help to be in Vine if you are selling silver divers. See the chart below.
Set clear goals for yourself, or you will never know if you are successful.
Ask if you have the resources to commit to this strategy fully and in the long run. The communication platform needs to be processed over time.
Is your company’s website ready for further attention? What will she do to interact with these new guests and how will you capture their data?
Are you committed to having all the marketing and advertising steps included in the social media platform?
