This morning i signed in to my social media accounts (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, etc …) and guess what i found … nothing … except for the basic tags on Facebook pictures and some status updates … On the other hand, when the clock struck 3:00 pm my time (GMT +3) … this is when the people in the US wake up, i start getting flooded with tweets and updates … so it struck me then and there that the MENA region is still not making use of Social Media as it should …
Is that because we don’t have enough people online, or is it simply a miseducation on that front … I would vote for the latter since online statistics show a substantial number of people who are surfing the net on a daily basis … this presents a number of questions:
- Are businesses looking at Social Media as a Marketing tool?
- Are individuals aware of the power of Social Media in Personal Branding?
- Aside from Facebook, are businesses aware of the different Social Media sites out there?
- Aside from setting up their business website, what are enterprises doing online?
Honestly the questions are endless … and therefore, so are the opportunities. From what little i know about Social Media, if i were to say one thing about it … it is certainly one of the cheapest ways to promote your business … it spreads like a virus … and if you know how to manage it, it is the best thing you can do for your business! All you need to do is unleash the virus and let the internet do the rest.
The graph below was taken from a report issued by MarketingProfs Research on The Benefits of Social Media Marketing. Honestly, the results are fascinating and should entice any kind of business to explore this incredible “free” tool.
© 2009 MARKETINGPROFS LLC · ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
As an independent consultant who is fascinated with this epidemic, I will be discussing in my postings how to make use of Social Media Marketing to benefit your business … and I invite you to give your input and thoughts on the subject.
talk to you soon,
John
Social media marketing seems to be a trend, everyone is talking about it, thinking about how to use it to promote and get exposure for his own business. However, before we figure out how to manage it, should we take a step backward and think: does our business match with social media marketing? Extracted some ideas from the book Meatball Sundae by Sth Godin:
People often choose marketing tool in this way:
I have a business want to promote -> let’s see which marketing tool is the most popular and efficient and choose it(normally obtained data from public statistics) -> how to fit my business to this marketing tool -> pray and hope it works!!!
Look at the logic, the chosen marketing tool is bounded by not the business we want to promote, but what is out there and popular, regardless if this tool actually matches with the business we want to promote. Is it really a right way?
Back to the old days, there were only limited marketing channels, marketing people didn’t need to choose…everyone was using almost the same thing. However, with development of technology and increasing number of onliners, people seem to be lost to ‘pick’ the right one. So all they can do is to follow the trend….however, shouldn’t the marketing people be the trend setter instead?
I have no doubt the vast exposure and no. of visitors you can get by using internet as marketing tool. But I still insist, the most and only successful marketing tool is the one that can reach the right people, at the right place and right time. I don’t need 100 million visitors to visit my website, I only need 1000 visitors, who can potentially turn into customers
Dear Christy,
First of all let me start off by thanking you for being the first responder to my blog … I’d also like to highlight that I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin – he is such an inspiration – I love his method – he touches on a subject in his blog then makes you go think about it … genius.
Having said that, allow me to share with you some feedback with regards to your comments. I agree with Godin’s readiness argument 100% – we can not push a technology onto a company and expect it to work without prepping the latter for such developments. I also agree with you that you would prefer a marketing tool that would reach the right people, at the right place and the right time. True Social Media Marketing is viral, but it certainly fits the above criteria if managed correctly!
Social Media Marketing (SMM)is not a stand alone tool – it is meant to spread to either mass or niche markets depending on your target. SMM helps yo engage with your potential customers, read their comments, get their feedback, answer to their needs … SMM is the “Word on The Street”
I would like to share with you a brief summary of a case on Nissan in Canada. They wanted to introduce a stylish new car to a new generation – the creative agency (Capital C Communications) decided to engage potential customers with a viral social media campaign instead of the traditional large-scale advertising campaign. They came up with a contest designed to tap into the country’s young and creative community and to help in spreading the word about the car.
Results: In terms of reach, engagement and awareness, the hybercube campaign was a success.
• Between the start of the campaign on February 27 and the close of auditions on May 15, there were more than 330,000 site visits. More than half of the visits were referrals, many from Facebook where contestants posted links to their canvases.
• There were more than 1.5 million canvas views between April 15 and May 15.
• More than 50,000 people registered at the site to vote on the final entries or individual canvases, generating a total of 250,000 votes.
• The site averaged nearly six page views per visit; visitors spent an average of more than four minutes on the site.
• After the mid-point of the campaign, there was an 87 percent increase in awareness (from the baseline) of the cube and the cube’s manufacturer (Nissan).
• There were more than 8,000 tweets about the hypercube campaign. With an average of 330 followers per tweeter, that is more than 2.6 million impressions.
(Ref: MarketingProfs – Social Media ROI Success Stories)
IMPRESSIVE … don’t you think!!!
So to answer your comment, if SMM is used correctly it can definitely cater to your needs in terms of targeting the correct customer base – but as you said before, your company has to be ready for SMM otherwise it might do more harm than good.
Thanks again for your contribution to my blog Christy …