Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is the use of online applications that allow brands to have conversations with consumers.

Some of the more popular applications are blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and Wikipedia. Anyone can use these applications, or a Yahoo Group or vBulletin Discussion Forum to say anything about anybody or any brand pr product. There are no “Internet Police” roaming cyberspace and deleting items that are untrue, vindictive or malicious.

There is a conversation going on somewhere right now that your brand, company is part of. Think of the social media space as a huge party, with countless small groups engaged in conversation on a variety of topics. And, unfortunately for brands, somewhere there is a disgruntled customer saying bad things about you, and hundreds and thousands are listening.

“Negative comments and false statements about brands can spread fast. Because consumers have the ability to create, publish and distribute their own content—as well as comment, debate, recommend and share their opinions—marketers and their brands are more vulnerable than ever. For instance, brands can be damaged by people who use Twitter to post false information. And they can just as easily be affected for the worse by employees who post prank videos on YouTube.”

–eMarketer “Social Media Misfires – How to Head Off Trouble Before it Starts”

In 2010, it is predicted the 64% of internet users will interact with user generated content (those blog posts, Tweets, Facebook status updates, etc.). In the US alone, some 26% million US adults use Twitter at least monthly. Over 100 million Americans have Facebook pages. Already, half of all US marketers are engaged in social media marketing of some sort.

The rise of social media as a marketing tool has seen the concurrent rise of so called “social media experts” who are happy to put up a Facebook page and open a Twitter account. But most of these have no idea how to create and manage a successful social media campaign and to integrate it into both your online and traditional marketing efforts.

“Best Practices”  include listening to the online conversation. It is a core competency that must be mastered before even attempting to join the conversation. Brands and companies must establish trust , using honesty and a voice that is conversational, yet authentic. Remember, social media is not an advertisement! Brands must learn to add value to the conversation.

We were early adapters to the major social media applications, and regularly participate in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. We have written blogs for brands as well as our own. We understand analytics and the measurement tools so important to judge the effectiveness of social media efforts. Our experience has taught us what works and what doesn’t. If you want a social media program that leads your industry, talk to us!