Social Media: Making a big world smaller

Many in the business world are concerned with the ability of social media to demonstrate its value as discussed by Simply Measured in The State of Social Marketing report. This primarily stems from the challenge to measure the derived benefits of social media platforms in terms of ROI. But, if:

“2 billion people worldwide are active on social media”

Then social marketing has to amount to something. This is why it is important for businesses to take advantage of social media platforms and the potential value that comes along with it. As Danny Wong explains in his article on social media, social media has helped reshape marketing in a number of ways, some of which are:

• Help companies focus on engagement vs. selling
• Use blogging to build influence and authority
• Utilize social media as a new distribution channel and for advertising
• Actively listen to customers to incorporate them into the feedback loop

At the fast rate people use and consume social media it is important for businesses to implement social media strategies within their marketing efforts. The challenge of quantifying the value of social media should not hinder businesses from largely integrating social media into their overall business. The State of Social Marketing report expects that social media will account for 22.5% of digital marketing budgets in the next five years. If companies incorporate social media within their business from the start then they can then find the right tools to measure social media activities. Social media is then likely to account for a lot more than just 22.5% of digital marketing budgets.

The world today is connected more so together because of social media, making our big world smaller. For that reason, social marketing should be considered in the marketing mix. So how do you get the most out of it? Well, that’s where Moz’s, Beginner's Guide to Social Media comes in. The guide suggests that first you frame your business case by asking the following questions:

1. What are your objectives?
2. What problem are you solving?
3. What is the rationale?
4. What resources will this effort require?
5. What type of investment is needed?

Framing your business case will help you get the most out of social media and engage a community of advocates for your brand. Building a social media presence can create content that helps you and your business:

• Learn and improve
• Explore and discover
• Question and answer

Now you might be asking...well which social media platform is best for me? The answer depends on where your audience is more actively participating. So depending on who your audience is, different social media platforms can be more valuable to your business and who you're trying to reach.

In an Bussinessweek article titled How Snapchat Built a Business, Max Chafkin and Sarah Frier illustrate the different ways an App like Snapchat can be used for marketing. Nowadays celebrities and other social influencers are paid to promote certain products in their “snapchats” or “snap stories”. Others can also pay for their geo-filters, selfie lenses and video filters to be accessed by Snapchat users for a certain amount of time, all of which I personally was not aware of before reading this article.

For instance, PepsiCo's Gatorade paid for a video filter that dumped a bucket of orange Gatorade over user’s heads. All of this generates revenue for both social media platforms like Snapchat and the companies that use Snapchat to promote their products, service or brand. This is a good example of how you can get people to engage and interact with your business. Keeping in mind who your audience is, it is important to tailor the online experiences of users accordingly.

One of the best practices I learned when it comes to frequency of social media updates is the 5-3-2 rule. As Adam Hutchinson from Socedo explained, out of 10 Twitter posts for instance you want:

• 5 to refer to external content relevant to your audience
• 3 to refer to internal content relevant to your audience
• 2 to refer your to your product or service in a way that demonstrates you know your audience, which allows users to relate and build relationships with your product, service or brand

You want to post relevant and engaging content while maintaining a consistent branding voice, but at the same time avoid overwhelming or turning off users. You can leverage using social media in this way to your advantage, while making sure to be human as stated by Moz.

An example that reinforces the power of social media is how Christina Fagan, Founder and CEO of Shit That I Knit used Instagram to build a community of knitting obsessives. Fagan used Instagram to grow her business by posting pictures of people wearing her knits and getting others to post and tag her catchy brand name “Shit that I Knit”. Soon enough, her account received many followers and Fagan starting hiring knitters to help with her growing business.

 “Without Instagram,” Fagan says, “I wouldn’t have been able to do this. Everything has been from Instagram.”

This article by Patrick Stikins, discusses some of the benefits of social media for small businesses. In relation to Christina Fagan's knitting business, Instagram helped Fagan reinforce her brand, generate leads at a low cost and create fun and interesting content for her customer base and followers that they can share with their social circles. Fagan figures she’ll sell around $30,000 to $40,000 worth of knits during prime holiday seasons.

If this is what social media can do for small businesses like Fagan's, just imagine what it can do for you. With the rise of social media and the extent to which it is used everyday, social media has a lot to offer especially in terms of more freedom and creativity for marketers to reach and engage with customers.

As Laurel Demoss from Borcz+Dixon said in her article on how social media has changed the dynamics of marketing:

 "An effective social media strategy not only builds brand awareness, but also brings a company closer to its core follower base."

So what are you waiting for? It's time to get started on your social media strategies!