Those days are long gone.
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If you think you can ignore social media, consider the following demographics from onlineMBA.com. What I found interesting is that in EVERY instance over 50% of the people on the social media platforms were over 35, a population with buying power. Many are well educated and have an income to support making larger purchases.?
What has been frustrating for many businesses, and will continue to be for many years to come, is understanding how to capitalize on this untapped potential. This confusion has only been muddled further by the speed at which the technology and platforms have changed.
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Ultimately what a lot of businesses forget is that at the heart of social media is marketing. The basics of marketing concepts do not change simply because the media has. These are:
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- Appeal to your customers
- Develop recognition and trust
- Nurture leads
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Appeal to your customers
Would you market a tampon commercial during a hockey game?
You could? but it wouldn?t be the best use of your marketing budget. Women do watch hockey (me being one of them) but even we wouldn?t expect to see or talk about such personal feminine topics during the game. You would have a higher return on investment (ROI) if you target shows that feature women.
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People seem to forget this fact when they turn to social media. They throw their marketing net out everywhere without first considering where and how and who their audience is. So they end up getting the occasional ?woman watching the hockey game? interested, but their ROI is not there. It?s a lot of work for very little return.
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If businesses spend a bit more time to identify both where their target audience hangs out and how, they will see a much higher yield in leads from their social media efforts. And they have to be willing to admit they are in the wrong place or delivering the wrong content if it isn?t working. If you look through the archives of TV commercial history, you will see many examples of failed ads which require businesses to adjust their tactics and try again.
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Develop recognition and trust
There was a study once where a teacher showed a bunch of kindergarten children popular fast food symbols. The kids knew immediately what they were and if they liked or disliked them. Now, fast food isn?t necessarily what you want to associate your business with but it teaches us a very important lesson of just how critical developing recognition is among our audience.
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The step further is to develop such trust that customers are confident that anything we produce will be of quality and worth purchasing. Trust is the catalyst that makes each additional sale easier to accomplish and allows business to grow.
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Too many businesses in social media are trying to skip this step. They haphazardly pull together logos and images that don?t speak to a brand. They don?t look to develop trust with their audience and instead just try to sell. It?s like walking up to a stranger and trying to get them to buy a new car? some of us can do it, but most of us don?t have that skill.
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What I encourage every business is to spend a little time with your branding. Develop a logo that you carry through everything you do. Spend a little money to get one done professionally. Keep your messages the same be they in a social media medium or on a piece of paper.
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Nurture leads
This goes hand in hand with building trust. In the marketing and sales world, we look at the population like a funnel. The object is to move potential clients further and further down towards a sale. How well, how quickly, and how many we can move down towards a sale dictate the success of our campaign. At each stage, a potential client needs different levels of support and has different concerns.
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Too many businesses, however, treat all their potential clients the same. They don?t adjust their tactics or needs. Failing to do so will result in a higher loss rate for the funnel.
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Return to the basics
These days, social media has a great buying potential for any business. But just because it?s a new media, we should not forget to follow basic marketing concepts. They carry through here just as they would in any other platform. And while you can succeed without these concepts, you will find a higher ROI if you do.
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Source: http://blog.1-to-1.org.uk/2013/03/3-key-concepts-to-social-media-success.html
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