Why Social Media is important in your Web Strategy
If you own a business, chances are you already have a website set up to establish your online presence. Most entrepreneurs go all out in designing their websites. After all, your website is your online representation and potential customers go to your website for information about the products and/or services that you offer. If you have a great looking website filled with good content, it can help your business both online and offline. If customers are satisfied, they will have repeat purchases and will refer you to friends and loved ones. While this is a good experience for a business owner, why not make use of social media to make more sales?
Social media is the new form of word of mouth advertising and it is the best form of advertising. Word of mouth advertising is very powerful in that, experiences of an actual user is perceived by most as more real than anything a manufacturer would provide through advertisements that is aired on TV, radio and shown on print media. With social media, you have a global audience that can be easily reached in just a matter of minutes.
But first, what is social media? The simplest way to think about it is word of mouth advertising done online. If you look it up on the internet, you’ll find several definitions of the term. But perhaps this best describes what social media is, “Social Media is, at its most basic sense, a shift in how people discover, read, and share news, and information (and content). It’s a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologue (one to many) into dialog (many to many).” http://www.webpronews.com/the-definition-of-social-media-2007-06
By this definition alone, you can see why social media is a powerful tool that you can use for your online business. Following statistics prove just how powerful social media is: http://seoconnecticut.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/why-social-media-marketing-is-important-for-your-business/
- Technorati has indexed more than 150 million blogs
- As of 2011, Facebook claimed having over 600 million registered users
- As of March 2011, following are statistics about Twitter: http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/2011/03/twitter-statistics-on-its-5th.html
- Has over 106 million accounts
- The number of users increases by 300,000 each day
- Twitter users are sending 55 million Tweets per day
- Twitter’s search engine gets 600 million queries every day
- There was an increase of 182% of mobile users of Twitter over the past year
We exist in the Web 2.0 age today. Web 2.0 has essentially transformed the computer from a simple tool that we can use for research to a mass communications device. Today, through a combination of broadband and mobile devices such as laptop computers, tablets and smart phones, we can interact with our friends and loved ones constantly, sharing information using a medium that will practically cost us nothing.
Today, your computer is not just a research tool it has become a social place for fun and it is where people are sharing all kinds of information. Compared to traditional media such as print, television and radio where you have to spend thousands or sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars, Web 2.0 technology costs a lot less. This is particularly helpful for owners of small to midsized businesses.
With social media, word about your products and services can spread really fast. When you use social media to introduce your product (e.g. a Facebook fan page) and a satisfied customer posts about your product or service, word spreads to hundreds or thousands of potential customers everywhere, at lightning speed. Conversely of course, a complaint can spread just as fast.
Advertising using social media appeals more to people. It makes your brand appear more open and friendly because when you use social media, your brand becomes personalized. Consumers can interact with your brand by posting on the page, making comments or suggestions, or even thanking you for the great experience they’ve had by using your product or service. This is the best way to collect feedback from your customers and this can also help you improve your product or service. Ultimately, this will bring more success to your business.
If you are not sure how you can start with your social media marketing, Raging Creations can help you. Using the latest technology alongside our years of experience, we can help drive our company to new dimensions of success.