Social networking is not just for teenagers and college co-eds anymore. With the growth of sites like LinkedIn and Twitter, social networking has expanded to many audiences that have been untapped for so long. Social networking isn’t just about being friends with someone online; it’s about developing a relationship with them as well. Marketing professionals are jumping on the bandwagon after seeing what social networking can do for them and their customer relationships. If your business is looking to get involved with social networking for your marketing needs, here are some things you should know in order to get started.
It’s a Conversation
Social networking makes marketing more than just a message; it soon becomes a two-way conversation between a company and an individual customer. On sites like Twitter, companies are able to put out a message and receive instant feedback from customers. Not only can you begin to establish a trusting relationship, you are engaging with those customers who you didn’t even know were there before. The old way of getting marketing feedback, through focus groups or customer letters, is virtually gone. Those practices didn’t always give businesses an accurate cross-section of customers and what those customers wanted; it was usually the extremes of the customer base. You can ask customers what they want, get their feedback, and respond again. It’s a great way to involve your customers in your business processes and keep the conversation going.
Customers are in Control
With using social networking for marketing, it’s good to realize that you’re going to be outnumbered. Because of this, you might not always have control of the conversation. For the most part, though, this is a good thing. You can see what customers are saying about you, and get their open and honest opinions. Audiences are now the ones in control of the message; many news agencies look to popular social networking users for their opinions on the news rather than experts, because they recognize the influence they have.
Reach Far
For marketers, it’s key to find those who have a lot of influence and target them first; they can get the conversation going and reach hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of seconds, the same markets you may have had to spend months trying to find. This is because social networking also works like word of mouth marketing and advertising. By telling a select few, those people will in turn tell those they know, and then those will talk to others, and so on. Social networks are valuable because they allow you to track who discusses your industry, among other information. You’ll not only be able to see who they are, but where they heard it from and also where they are from and what they said.
It’s Free!
The biggest benefit for marketers using social networking is the cost—free! It don’t cost anything to get started or to continue (unless you want to get more advanced). This helps everyone involved, from customers to the company itself. When considering ROI, it’s basically a no-brainier—any company that isn’t already using social networking has a big disadvantage. With each passing day, there’s more potential customers who aren’t being reached and who may be persuaded by a competitor.
Social networking is here to stay. Businesses have a great opportunity to take advantage of what it can provide for their business, their customers, and their bottom line. By implementing a social networking marketing strategy, you can build a brand message that resonates with the public, and continue to build upon those critical customer relationships at the same time.
[...] Marketing Feature: Social Networking [...]