What is Social Media?

Social media is perhaps the fastest growing area of marketing. It covers a multitude of methods with a common theme of sharing through social interaction. Most are web-based or use some form of broadcast media. Examples include:

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Blogs

Video sharing i.e. YouTube

Forums

Wikis

Recent research dated April 2010 by Michael A. Stelzner in the USA, identified several significant business benefits of using social media. His results are based on the experiences of those using this form of marketing.

Where should I start?

If you are new to social media marketing then Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the best and easiest places to start. As you become more proficient you can move onto blogging, video sharing and forums.

Unsurprisingly, businesses focussed on the consumer market (B2C) are more likely to use Facebook, whilst those focussed on the business market (B2B) favour LinkedIn and are more likely to use a blog.

How much time need I invest?

That’s up to you, but it’s worth remembering social media should be a part of your marketing plan rather than a means to an end in itself.

In general, my own experience bears out evidence from the research, which is that 1-5 hrs a week is typical, with about 4 hrs a week being a comfortable time commitment, although this is likely to increase to about 10 hrs a week with use and experience.

Once again my own experience reflects the fact that sole traders/proprietors and owners of small to medium sized businesses both spend between 1-5 hrs a week rising to 10 hrs a week with experience.

The benefits of using Social Media?

Social media is fast becoming recognised as the way for businesses to interact with their markets and customers. In his research Michael Stelzner found that 91% of businesses surveyed were using social media as a form of marketing. Whether you are a global multi-national company or a sole trader, Social Media has something to offer your business.

Most of the benefits of social media marketing are indirect, in that they influence customers into making a purchase rather than generate an immediate sale. Here are a few examples:

The number-one benefit of social media marketing is gaining exposure for your business.

Improving traffic to websites is the second major benefit, followed by building new business partnerships. A rise in search engine rankings is a medium to long term benefit of social media marketing. As search engine rankings improve, so will business exposure and lead generation which can then have the effect of a reduction in overall marketing expenses. The generation of qualified leads and helping to close a business transaction are benefits that directly impact sales.

These alone are pretty powerful benefits for using social media.

Here are some statistics from Michael Stelzner’s research to back up these benefits

Helped me close business:

73.8% of businesses who have been using social media for years report it has helped them close business.

Businesses selling to other businesses were more likely to achieve this benefit (51.3%) than those selling to consumers.

Small business owners were most likely to achieve this benefit (57.8%).

Generated exposure for my business:

Even with a minimal time investment, the vast majority of businesses (78% or higher) indicated their social media efforts increased exposure for their business.

Owners of small businesses were more likely than others to report greater exposure (89.2%)

Resulted in new business partnerships:

Those investing 6 to 10 hours per week in social media were able to build new partnerships.

Businesses selling to other businesses were more likely to achieve this benefit (60.8%) than those selling to consumers

.

Generated qualified leads:

With as few as 6 hours per week, half of businesses have generated qualified leads with social media

marketing. Sole proprietors were more likely than others to see benefits.

Reduced my overall marketing expenses:

The main financial cost of social media marketing is the time invested. However, a significant percentage of participants strongly agreed that overall marketing costs dropped when social media marketing was implemented.

Sole proprietors were more likely than others to see reductions in marketing costs when using social media marketing.

Helped us rise in the search rankings:

More than half of those investing at least 6 hours per week in social media marketing saw improvements in search engine rankings for their websites.

Increased my traffic/subscribers/opt in list:

At least 2 out of 3 participants found that traffic increased to to their website with as little as 6 hours per week invested in social media marketing.

Owners of small businesses were more likely than others to report benefits.

Michael Stelzner’s full report can be found at:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-industry-report-2010/

• Integrate social media marketing into your marketing plan
  
• Help you set up a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account
• Show you how to apply this social media to boost your business
• Source a suitable blogging system provider
• Show you how to write effective blogs

See my LinkedIn entry here

Follow me on Twitter here