Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content." My definition of social media is "a group of Internet-based applications that you better not live without if you want to compete in today's business climate." It is simply a must have. There is a reason that Facebook has over 500 Million users. There is a reason that billions of dollars are spent as a direct result of social media. There is a reason that there's an average of 1.4 Million tweets on Twitter per hour. What is the reason you ask? It works. Throughout the rest of this blog posting I will talk about some key advantages of social media marketing.
Personally, I think the biggest advantage to marketing your product through social media is the low cost/high return factor. This is especially important for us at SYTEsee.com. As a start-up company, we don't have the money to spend on big advertising campaigns right now. That means we need to be creative as we build our product. The biggest way we reach people is through social media. We love it because it doesn't cost us anything. It's free! All of us have our own Facebook pages plus our Facebook page for SYTEsee.com. We have a fan page for SYTEsee.com as well. We've created Twitter accounts...which we don't use as much as we should. We've recently created this blog for you to follow along as we build our business. Shortly, we will be using YouTube as another way to promote our product. We aren't stopping there as we continue to find creative ways to reach customers. I can't begin to figure out how much capital we are saving while we build our business.
Another great reason to become involved with social media is your message gets out faster and reaches more people. Rapid sharing. Say you want to place an advertisement in the Sunday newspaper. You need to create the ad, get your ad rep involved, then it needs to be proofed. Then the paper sends you back what it will look like....I'm probably missing steps....but you get the idea. That will take all week. Social media on the other hand, allows for instantaneous dissemination of information. As a side note, say "instantaneous dissemination" 10 times really fast. I just did and it was kind of fun. This is one of the reasons why magazine and print publication readership continues to decline at a decent pace. I love reading the Sunday paper in the morning on my couch, with some breakfast, while I multi-task and watch ESPN as much as the next guy. Those days could possibly come to an end in my lifetime. I'll probably be using an iPad before long to read that newspaper.
Social media gives you better ability to "brand" your product. We all have some advertisements that we know by heart that we love to hate. A product that has been beaten into our heads. The nice way to say that is we have been "branded". You may be in the market for a lawyer. Who's the first one that comes to mind? Probably the one that you change the channel of your radio or TV every time the commercial comes on and say "if I hear that #%&#@& commercial again I'm gonna....". We've all been there. Social media, especially blogs, can be an extremely helpful tool to make the public aware of your product and/or image. Also, this helps companies get direct feedback from their audience. Obtaining their likes or dislikes allows them to intelligently alter or control perceptions.
Lastly, social media allows you to build excellent report with current and potential clients. Most people prefer to do business with people they know, like and trust. Quite often, that allows you to make a little more money. Don't miss understand what I just wrote. I'm not promoting taking advantage of your friends. You could very well be in a position that your product is higher in price than that of a competitor. Chances are someone will spend a little more to give you the business because they like and trust you.
Social media is a powerful tool. A powerful tool if used creatively.
"It's never too late to become the person you might have been"
-George Elliott
Personally, I think the biggest advantage to marketing your product through social media is the low cost/high return factor. This is especially important for us at SYTEsee.com. As a start-up company, we don't have the money to spend on big advertising campaigns right now. That means we need to be creative as we build our product. The biggest way we reach people is through social media. We love it because it doesn't cost us anything. It's free! All of us have our own Facebook pages plus our Facebook page for SYTEsee.com. We have a fan page for SYTEsee.com as well. We've created Twitter accounts...which we don't use as much as we should. We've recently created this blog for you to follow along as we build our business. Shortly, we will be using YouTube as another way to promote our product. We aren't stopping there as we continue to find creative ways to reach customers. I can't begin to figure out how much capital we are saving while we build our business.
Another great reason to become involved with social media is your message gets out faster and reaches more people. Rapid sharing. Say you want to place an advertisement in the Sunday newspaper. You need to create the ad, get your ad rep involved, then it needs to be proofed. Then the paper sends you back what it will look like....I'm probably missing steps....but you get the idea. That will take all week. Social media on the other hand, allows for instantaneous dissemination of information. As a side note, say "instantaneous dissemination" 10 times really fast. I just did and it was kind of fun. This is one of the reasons why magazine and print publication readership continues to decline at a decent pace. I love reading the Sunday paper in the morning on my couch, with some breakfast, while I multi-task and watch ESPN as much as the next guy. Those days could possibly come to an end in my lifetime. I'll probably be using an iPad before long to read that newspaper.
Social media gives you better ability to "brand" your product. We all have some advertisements that we know by heart that we love to hate. A product that has been beaten into our heads. The nice way to say that is we have been "branded". You may be in the market for a lawyer. Who's the first one that comes to mind? Probably the one that you change the channel of your radio or TV every time the commercial comes on and say "if I hear that #%&#@& commercial again I'm gonna....". We've all been there. Social media, especially blogs, can be an extremely helpful tool to make the public aware of your product and/or image. Also, this helps companies get direct feedback from their audience. Obtaining their likes or dislikes allows them to intelligently alter or control perceptions.
Lastly, social media allows you to build excellent report with current and potential clients. Most people prefer to do business with people they know, like and trust. Quite often, that allows you to make a little more money. Don't miss understand what I just wrote. I'm not promoting taking advantage of your friends. You could very well be in a position that your product is higher in price than that of a competitor. Chances are someone will spend a little more to give you the business because they like and trust you.
Social media is a powerful tool. A powerful tool if used creatively.
"It's never too late to become the person you might have been"
-George Elliott
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