It’s clear that social media marketing has grown dramatically over the last few years and that with an increase of than 800 million active users, the quantity of Facebook users is easily more than twice the size of the entire population of america!
Its growth has been astronomical now, thousands of people are posting more personal and business information online than previously. It’s happening at lightning speed with a large number of posts, tweets and uploads occurring every hour.
Recent research conducted by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) commissioned by Sensis Pty Ltd (May 2011, p. 10) indicates, that “62% of Australian Internet users use a variety of social media sites, with many visiting each day and most at least a few times a week.” It’s no real surprise that with the millions of prospective customers from worldwide using these sites, every day, that so many businesses are determined to include social media marketing into their marketing mix. However it also important to get an understanding of how these sites are increasingly being used and what’s involved with maintaining or resourcing your organization presence on these sites. Luxury Travel Experiences can stick around for some time so don’t underestimate how this can affect the perception of one’s brand in the market place. Spend some time upfront thinking about whether social media is right for the business.
1. Seek first to understand – It is very important that you understand the basics of how is social media actually works and how it’s being used. What exactly are people and businesses doing with social media? What gets them results? A few of you may be thinking, how do you do this? Perhaps you could consider trying it out for yourself by setting up a personal account, then testing a few of the features, or get yourself a trusted friend showing you their account and guide you through. Alternatively you can find so many resources and ‘how to’ items online about social media marketing, that you could run a search on Google or on YouTube on a particular topic of interest and watch the video tutorials to obtain informed.
2. Understand your purpose – What’s your purpose is for using social media marketing? What do you hope to achieve for your business by using it? It’s really essential that you identify your purpose so you can get involved in social media marketing (or any marketing activity for example). You need to workout why you are engaging. What do you be prepared to achieve? Do you simply want to build brand awareness, build relationships your customers or identify new sales opportunities? Remember to be realistic about what you believe you will be able to achieve.
3. If you decide to engage in social media, which sites are best for you? – With the plethora of social media marketing sites available, which ones are best for the business? Consider where your target audience would socialize online, and think about the period of time and resources you would realistically be able to commit to maintaining and administering your site presence. Which ones are right for you? You will probably find that some are a better fit than others.
4. Quality Content – In the event that you decide that social media marketing is right for your business, carefully consider the amount and quality of information you want to share in the web sphere. Remember it’ll probably stay there for years, so you must make sure it accurate and reliable information that’s valuable to your market. It has to be relevant, otherwise people won’t read it.
