Integration Is Key To Social Media Success
A new Citi Bank survey shows that a majority of small businesses are embracing social media marketing, and mixing new techniques with traditional marketing to leverage maximum results. Most rely on their web site as the main ingredient, incorporating social media marketing to drive visitors their web presence, where they can purchase, opt-in or sign up.
Interestingly enough, nearly three quarters of the small business owners they survey are not and have not been using email marketing techniques, something which still provides meaningful results for marketers who use it wisely.
We have found that every business is different and finding the perfect social media platform for every client is key to maximizing results. There simply is no one-size-fits-all social media marketing for business clients and there likely never will be. When it comes to determining which social media services to employ for marketing purposes much depends on the nature of the business in question and the content or service which they provide. Some businesses are a perfect match for video services, such as establishing a premium channel on YouTube, while others have more static content, which means a blog is the missing element we need to provide.
Regardless of which social media tools you employ for your small business (or large business; school, club, church or other) the benefits are there for you to reap. But you have to be prepared for the work involved in setting up your network; establishing the system you will need to employ to get the desired results. And you need to have a good idea of both the content you can provide for the social media network and the people you are trying to reach with it.
Social media marketing is hands down the world’s most effective communication tool. But just because you can communicate with large groups of people doesn’t mean that will equate to increased sales. You must have a strategy in place, an idea about where you want your social media marketing to take you and how best to monitor its progress and gauge its effectiveness. Once you have all these pieces in place you can be certain you are ready to make best use of social media marketing and receive the benefits of a marketing strategy that works for your particular needs.
“Although small business owners have been slower to adopt online marketing channels, they are clearly warming up to using these tools to target customers,” said Maria Veltre, Managing Director, Small Business Marketing & Customer Experience at Citi. “They are seeing that social media platforms can be an efficient and cost effective means to increase awareness of their business, engage with customers and, ultimately, to drive growth.”
The number of small businesses selling goods and services online or via email rose from 16 percent to 24 percent since 2010. The use of social media tools, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, is up six percentage points during that same time frame. The survey also revealed that nearly three-quarters of small business owners who have a website find it very or somewhat effective in generating more business for their company.
Click here to read more of the Citi Bank survey.
