Social Media Marketing is taking over

Ignore Social Media Marketing at your own risk

What is Social Media Marketing?

Before we can define social media marketing, I think we need to define social media, don’t you? There is no definite answer, it’s a matter of opinion, so here is my definition. Social media refers to sites where the intent is to permit users to connect with their friends and colleagues in a primarily non-commercial manner and discuss their interests. When I read that definition, social media marketing sounds like a direct contradiction. Here we are stating that the purpose of a social media site is non-commercial and yet we want to market to these people. Do you see an issue there? Most of the big sites do (Facebook, Twitter,…). However, most of these sites are only around because they provide a platform for advertisers to hawk their products and services, thus producing fees for the site.

Why is Social Media Marketing Important?

First, if you were to do a review of the fastest growing sites in the world, you would see that most of them are social media sites. Facebook is now the second most visited site in the world and Twitter is gaining rapidly.

Second, interestingly, when compared to other types of sites, visitors tend to spend longer on social media sites as well. Facebook users are the epitome of what advertisers look for. Their average visit is more than 17 minutes and many spend more than 30 minutes per day on the site.

Third, the very nature of social media sites is geared to attract advertisers. When a visitor tells a site what their interests are, they are providing valuable information to the site, and to advertisers. Any advertiser would rather spend their advertising dollars showing their wares to people that have already expressed an interest in the niche the advertiser operates in.

If Social Media is non-commercial, how can I leverage it?

I have heard social media compared to a party. No one attending a party relishes the thought of someone they have just met rushing up to them and excitedly trying to sell them on the next great thing. Instead, at a party, people want to get to know you a little bit and find out if you share interests. Eventually, a person will get around to asking you what you do for a living. If you have laid the groundwork properly, you will have gained the trust of the person you are speaking with. The intent is not to sell them something at the party, but to establish yourself as an authority figure in their eyes. Of course, part of this is letting people know where you do business (i.e. your website) so that when they are ready to make a purchase they know where to go to find you?

What are the keys to success?

If we have done our jobs properly to this point when it comes to Chicago social media marketing, we should have provided value to the prospect and established ourselves as an authority figure in their eyes. They have likely shared their contact information with us as well as their interests. Our job then as social media Chicago consultants becomes follow-up. We need to build a relationship with our prospects, so we need to continue to deliver value to them. I’m sure you have heard it said that the fortune is in the follow-up. Follow-up becomes our sales funnel. Social media sites are the entry point to our sales funnel and we continue to provide value and follow-up until we win customers through Chicago social media marketing.

Social Medial Marketing takes a little longer than traditional methods, but the upside is staggering.

Social Media Marketing is an integral part of your internet marketing strategy.

For more details on our social media Chicago services, contact us today at 630-590-9521.