How effective is social media marketing?

[roundProfessional018]

I'm just in the start up stage of my company and want to establish it a bit more. Have read a few bits and bobs on it, but want some first hand advice. How effective do you think it is in terms of marketing your products and services? And are there any companies that will do it for you? I'm not that good technology wise ha!

Thank you, Joanne x

[Colt Vin]

Here is a great video from Socialnomics about Social Media and the impact it has/will have on your brand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8 ..Social Media is a really great way to be interactive with your customers and drive traffic to your site. I work in the Social Media Department at Vinsolutions, and a lot of our customers see a significant increase in traffic utilizing Social Media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

[Pluto Jones]

It depends on your product and the "sex appeal" of it to a social audience. Is it something exciting like a new Apple product, or something mundane like socks?

That's the biggest factor in whether or not you can be really successful with social - I've worked with a lot of companies that just aren't that fun to talk about with friends... think banking or insurance. On the other hand I've worked with companies that are in the travel industry, bands, and movie companies which *do* have exciting products people want to talk about.

You can get someone to do it for you, but it can be pretty expensive if you go the agency route. I'd suggest you read up online to see about managing it yourself first, it's pretty straight forward.

[delightfulWarrior794]

Social media marketing is extremely effective! However an important element before you begin your campaign is to define what your goals are. Since you are in the start up stage: Brand awareness and growing your fan-base will most likely best the best goals. A good practice is to think of a way to build value in becoming a fan of your facebook page or following you on twitter etc. The first social media campaign I ever ran was for a used car dealership. I had to overcome all the negative feelings people had with used cars and come up with a reason for them to engage through facebook. The dealership was offering a free GPS system with every car sold so I talked to the manager and he agreed to let me give one away every few weeks to a random fan. It was an established business so I also used their email database to refer previous customers to their page. After we had a I had a few hundred fans, I took candid pictures of the staff ( some were really funny) and asked the fans to give them titles. This increased the amount of interaction and every time someone commented it showed up on their personal profile as well.

By focusing on metrics other than sales, I was able to create an engaging environment on the page. Sure enough when it came time for one of our fans to buy a car, thy would post on our wall asking if we had a specific model. I guided the sales reps on how to keep the dialog going on our page instead of just calling them etc. It was less pressure on the customer and all of the other fans were able to see that we responded to our fans quickly. The number of sales/leads were driven by the amount of interactions with fans.

The key is to go into it with the goal of adding value. Whether it be information, entertainment or contests (facebook has guidlines for contests so make sure and check them first). You dont want to come out of the gate with "on sale now" and have your social campaign be sales driven. This will hurt your image and limit potential for interaction.

You want to think about social media marketing in general as a place to build your fans with providing value, and get your existing customers buzzing about your product or brand. Word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing and social media is like word of mouth on steroids. Get creative and think outside the box. Persistence is key as well in the beginning you will want to set devote a good chunk of your time to help it grow. I would recommend starting out with facebook and twitter. After you have those down pat move to other channels while maintaining all of them.

If you need help feel free to contact me and If you are looking for a company to run your campaign for you or even get it off the ground and show you how to keep it moving check these guys out http://nixdiwebdesign.com/services/socia...eting.html Good luck! BTW you can view the video that colt vin referenced on the homepage!