Internet Marketing Minneapolis, SEO, Web Design

Social media has taken everyone by storm… you see commercials from Fortune 500 companies promoting Youtube videos, Facebook pages, Twitter profiles, and the like. There’s one simple reason why:

Social media can do wonders for your traffic, visibility, brand and conversions. We know that consumers usually need to have contact with your message seven or more times before they’ll take action. This can mean seven time-consuming sales calls. However it can also mean a couple of mentions on Twitter, a visit to your Facebook page, seeing your company’s name at a forum a few times, and then coming to your website ready to buy.

Why Social Media?

The social media numbers are staggering. Facebook has more than 200 million active users. Twitter sees more than 3 million tweets a day, and counting. 77% of internet users read blogs regularly. Some 80 million Americans use social media on a regular basis, and consumers are twice as likely to believe what a friend says about your company than what you say in an advertisement. And these numbers are growing exponentially — so fast that there will be thousands more Tweets, Facebook signups and blogs post by the time you finish this sentence…

Is your company one of the many that hasn’t discovered social media, or one of the many more using it ineffectively? Recent studies show that only a very small proportion of companies make any effort to measure the effectiveness of their social media involvement. This means that those companies who do use targeted, well-managed social media campaigns are at a distinct advantage.

Some of the factors involved in leveraging social media:

• Consistency – Social media, from blogging to professional profiles at sites like LinkedIn and Jigsaw, must be consistent to be effective. The abandoned blog or inactive Twitter account sends a message that your company isn’t engaged or on top of things.
• Interactivity – Effective social media has to be interactive. Your company has to respond to comments, participate in forums as well as posting, hold conversations at Twitter and Facebook, and in general behave like a member of the community. This can be time consuming, and it may not be the best use of your staff’s time.
• Non-Commercial – Social media can’t look like advertising. If your involvement in social media looks like a sales pitch, your customers and prospective customers are likely to shut it out. Social media allows users to choose what contact they receive, and few will willingly listen to communication that’s all about you.

Blue Cedar Marketing offers social media management services as an essential part of your company’s online identity. Contact us to learn how you can harness the power of this new marketing phenomenon.