Internet has been around for quite a while now since the first functional web was set which allowed information to travel from one computer to the next. Ever since that day, the evolution of communication means known as “Social Media” has been a huge impact focused on a strategic axis known as Direct Marketing.
Some studies reveal very interesting statistics about social media which answer, without room for a doubt, the question: Should my Company use Social Media Marketing?:
- 82% of people between 18 and 29 years of age, use social media;
- 40% of Corporative Twitter accounts participate in some way of Customer service;
- 48% of consumers combine social media and search engines in their buying process.
- 97% of non-profit associations use Facebook for their marketing.
- 140 million tweets are sent daily.
- 89% of companies state that Social Media is on the way of becoming a useful piece of their marketing strategies.
- 47% of journalists use Twitter as a news source.
These statistics, published by PuroMarketing.com, follow a study which used metrics up to 4 years ago. Imagining the accelerated pace by which social media are growing as time passes by, you can get to the conclusion these numbers are becoming obsolete with every new important event, whether it is historical, sports, technological or natural disasters.
Information travels faster than humans do, this is why “Social Media” must be taken seriously knowing that every institution which interacts with social media users, broadcast even more than just a message or answer a specific question.
We have to answer some questions that will allow us to better identify the proper way to use Social Media Marketing, we must humanize our Brand in order for it to grant it a personality that makes your target market feel comfortable enough to accept it, and given that social media has a voice in itself. There is a clear example when you answer a simple question in all caps which becomes a grave mistake, let’s look at how it comes out:
User: Do you still have the new video game everybody is playing?
Company: WE CERTAINLY DO!!!
If you still haven’t found the mistake in the example above, I’d like to recommend you read it again or try to answer the same way if being asked a question in a normal scenario with a friend so you may analyze the way they are going to react. Spoken language is completely different than written language, especially because when you write in all caps, it shows anger, hate or even frustration due to excessive emphasis. These situations are when a company creates the personality of their brand which is going to bring a positive or negative impact to their target audience.
Communication has evolved to the point of allowing huge companies to increase their Social Media Marketing utilization to encourage the correct Brand usage, and create a stronger bond with their internal and external clients, as well as building its personality in several different situations which tend to benefit their business intention. Building business relationships through a client-friendly channel in a leisure context such as social media, is a task which is worth whatever mouth to mouth publicity is worth… both of them are simply priceless.
Content Value
Not everything which is said in social media is an answer, it also provides with content. What is content good for? If you develop good content, it will automatically generate an added value towards your audience with the goal of keeping an active interest towards them and towards potential customers. To develop valuable content is not an out of this world task if you take into consideration that this activity is an investment that allows the author to build up credibility and trust from their audience.
According to Clikz’ own Mike O´Brien, quality content helps us with our presence in Google or any other search engines, allowing us to direct traffic towards our website or social media channels in which the audience will find our corporation policies, the services we provide, or any other relevant aspects which will determine their business intentions towards us.
Social Media communication is growing and constantly evolving on a global scale to the point where according to OMLatam.com in 2013 Guatemala got the first place as a social focused country with an average rate of social media interaction of 93,54%, given that out of 17.044 questions made by every company website, 15.943 got responded, followed by Norway with a rate of 90,5%. This is why the companies need to use Social Media Marketing to obtain credibility, to give towards society, and to improve our communication with our audience.