Understanding the Point of Social Media

• Posted on 16th July 2012
• in Social Media
• by Marketing Pro

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Grasping the big picture of social media can be hard for some marketers. Just because you have a Twitter account for your company doesn’t mean that your involvement on that account should be the focus of all your social media marketing activities. Unless you’re simply trying to just get followers (which you shouldn’t!), it doesn’t seem to matter all that much if people are engaging with you on your Twitter account. What is important is that they become loyal consumers who buy your product and hopefully even get other people to buy your product.

It’s been said for a while now that social media is not about the number of fans and followers you have, but now it’s being shown that it’s not even about how many people engage and interact with your page. This may seem shocking, but social media marketing is not just about YOU and how YOU think people should connect with your business.

Consider these interesting thoughts on how marketers can miss the point of social media:

• Not everyone “Likes” the products they like.

Think about it-you may love your new Hoover vacuum, but how likely are you to go to Hoover’s Facebook page and “Like” Hoover? This means that not all consumers who like your product actually want to engage and have a relationship with your product online.

• Most businesses aren’t addressing the real problems.

Again, many companies start a Facebook or Twitter page with the goal of getting as many fans, “Likes,” and followers in the hopes of increasing engagement. But, if you consider the Hoover example, social media marketing is not about a consumer “liking” a brand’s page. What’s more important is that the consumer is talking to their friends, on their social media platform about that brand. So, forget about how many fans, friends and followers you have, and focus more on how social media can be a tool to help your business.

• Be sure to match your company goals with the right social media platforms.

It can be helpful to erase everything you thought you knew about social media, and start fresh. Social media sites have come a long way since they first began, and each individual site has unique ways for companies to use them. Rethink and define what your objectives and goals are with social media marketing then consider which platforms would be the best for your business to use to reach those goals.

• Don’t follow the crowd; concentrate on value-added activity.

When Facebook created business pages, most companies assumed they should make and promote a Facebook page. This may be a helpful thing for a business to have, but the activity on that Facebook page is not always the best way to expand your business on Facebook.

Look at the activities that best address your business goals, and come up with a plan around it. If your business tends to spread easily by word of mouth, think about how to use Facebook to get people to talk about you. Or, if you’re trying to increase brand awareness, think about how to reach people with a strong message about your company (maybe with a free trial?) Or perhaps you want customers to share their experience with your brand, so consider how to create experiences that would be worth sharing and push for social sharing.

With social media marketing, you really need to define what it is that works for your business and the relationship your consumers have with it. Otherwise, you can easily get off track and miss the social media boat completely!

Tags: facebook, marketers, marketing, social media, social media marketing, twitter