The Importance of Social Media Marketing

Have you figured out where your potential customers are and how to reach them? If your company is doing the same thing it did thirty years ago, your company may not be in business next year. No longer is a 30-second TV commercial enough to boost sales—the marketing pie is a whole lot bigger, with many new options and a kindler and gentler approach. Before customers spend their dwindling dollars, they want you to show them that your product or service is the best solution to their problem. An increasingly effective way to reach your customers and build their trust is through online social media marketing. Has your marketing department evolved to keep up?

Traditional mass media advertising continues to erode its effectiveness as technologies allow users more control. For example, DVRs can allow viewers to skip commercials, network TV internet sites allow viewing of popular shows with limited (and different) commercials, and hundreds of satellite and digital TV and radio stations compete for your audience’s attention. Instead of the captive audience you had during prime time a generation ago, your marketing efforts need to be much more focused. People are spending more and more of their free time online, so that needs to be an important component of your company’s marketing plan. A simple website is no longer enough. Your future customers are deeply entrenched in internet communities, sharing a little about themselves, their pictures, and their opinions. Your company should be right alongside of them, forming relationships and building trust. You can bet if you’re not effectively taking advantage of online marketing, your competitors are.

Social media marketing is very cost-effective and yields significant results when it’s implemented by top marketing talent. What was popular two years ago, though, may be on its way out and something bigger and better is taking its place. To compete, your marketing staff needs to stay on top of the latest, greatest, and most effective methods. Today, reaching customers through popular social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo and others allows you to reach a wide audience of informed and tech-savvy consumers. These folks are interested in finding out what new projects your company is working on, what your corporate culture is, what special offers you have, and if your current customers love you or hate you. This allows you to build relationships with your customers in a kindler, gentler way. Perhaps most importantly, using social media marketing will boost your search engine rankings so your customers can find you easily through popular search engines and back links.

No matter where your customers find you online, you need to make sure the message you’re sending is consistent and carrying an appropriate brand and value message. This message needs to be reflected through your online activities, like your social media marketing sites, your corporate website, your blog, and even in your offline marketing efforts like advertisements, sponsorships, and media coverage. Your marketing plan needs to have a consistent look and feel that is adaptable, progressive, and informative—not to mention entertaining. To accomplish this, today’s top marketing departments need to have the right combination of talent and ideas. Your staff must research the options, implement strategies, and maintain momentum in an ever-changing online world. No one had heard of Twitter a few years ago, and now it’s a rapidly growing venue to share snippets of information and opinions. Who knows what the next new social media platform will be?

Companies using social media marketing effectively have the best available marketing talent on their team and the investment is paying off. If your company can’t make the same claim, it may be time to bring in some new players. Though social media marketing is only one facet of an effective marketing strategy, it’s an important one. Companies with progressive, determined, and talented marketing professionals will be the ones who continue to reach their customers where they are, and be in business for years to come.