“To change is difficult, not to change is fatal” – Marketing techniques are no exception to that rule. Companies which have enjoyed success with conventional marketing techniques often ponder if it’s worth the cost and effort to join the social media marketing bandwagon. The most widely prevalent concerns regarding social media marketing are:
Is social media marketing suitable for my business? Will it work for me?
While I strongly believe that “One size fits all” approach does not work in social media marketing (rather any marketing technique), I believe that it is well suited to cater to a variety of companies be it startups, industrial corporations, niche players, retailers, B2B providers, B2C providers etc. And I have pretty good reasons to believe that social media marketing works just as well for every company.
It’s a means, not an end
Like conventional marketing techniques, Social Media Marketing is a means and not an end. The ultimate goal remains the same – spread the word about your brand/ product and encourage customers to signup for your services. You need to be clear of the goals that you’ve set for your business and how you plan to achieve them by engaging in a social media marketing campaign.
Social Media marketing complements conventional marketing techniques in a fantastic manner. For example, if you opt for a TV ad campaign, you can use upload of the advertisements to populate video hosting sites like YouTube and Vimeo and spread the word about it through tweets and your Facebook profile. The reach of social media networks is simply amazing, so why not make the best use out of it?
It comes at the best possible price – Free!
All good things in this world are free and so is social media marketing. While conventional marketing techniques can often be a costly affair, social media comes to you at the best possible price – free.
So, while a social media campaign increases your revenue, it actually reduces your marketing costs. I’m not suggesting that you should hire a social media expert/ consultant irrespective of whatever business you are in, however it’s worth exploring the endless possibilities especially when you can do it on your own and at no additional cost.
Do-it-yourself or Hire an expert
When it comes to conventional marketing techniques such as TV and print ad-campaigns, you need to seek external expertise. However, when it comes to social media marketing, you can choose to try your own hand at it or seek professional help. While I’m an active proponent of the do-it-yourself theory, my advice to newcomers is usually a hybrid approach – hire a social media expert and learn from them. After all, social media marketing is no rocket science.
Once you’ve unraveled the mystery of social media marketing, you can apply its principles to your company/ business pretty easily.
While many online marketers and social media experts believe that social media marketing isn’t right for every company, I beg to differ. I strongly believe that if it isn’t right for your company, you are doing it the wrong way.
After all, where there is a will, there is a way and there is marketing technique for that!
I agree that the principles of social media are good for every business, it’s the implementation that has to differ. To be exact, it’s the strategy that must differ for every business, as it can’t really be adapted and re-used like when you find those templated business plans floating around on the web. A strategy which is naturally centered around social media as a mean, as you say.
The price topic is somewhat deceptive, of course the various “channels” are mostly free, however sooner or later you will necessarily have to pay some money for tools, analytics or whatnot. I believe it’s something for which you find a use progressively as you go on, so it’s true that one shouldn’t focus on those aspects too much, at least not at the beginning. That’s true as well for hiring an expert, it can be a big boost, and especially if you are into a big business it’s probably kind of mandatory to go “safe”, but it’s not true for every business.
Social media in principle works for any company. I think the question most businesses are asking is what goals is it most suitable to achieve for that particular business and, most importantly, how does it fare against other channels.
If I’m trying to reach 100,000 relevant people with my message, and I have a choice between social media and regular advertising, the choice is not always very simple. You need to factor in costs, time, past ROI figures to get a clearer picture.
Thanks so much for the great information. I always love to read more about social media and marketing.
I have my own site. I hope to offer tips as well. Thank you.
http://marketing-mistress.com/JoinMyNewsletter.html
Overall, I agree that social media marketing can be good for just about every company but I think you take it one step too far when you dismiss the need for outside help and insist that social media are free. That phrase you used, “Once you’ve unraveled the mystery of social media marketing …” That ain’t easy! Not every medium is right for every business. Not using the right features of, say, Facebook, may cause you to toss it when it could actually be a gold mine. Asking for help with complex topics is a good thing, not a bad one. And while it is cheap to play around and mess up with different social media platforms, it isn’t free. Time is money: the salary of the staffer who gets to do it or your own time has value. Long-term maintenance of a social media presence will take time, for planning and implementation.
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