Think Social Media is a Fad?

Think that social media is a flash in the pan that will pass, and you’ll just “hunker down” until it passes you by? Or that social networking is nice for teens but has nothing to do with your business? Watch this quick video and let us know if you still feel that way.

What Can You Expect from Social Networking?

Social media is being talked about everywhere these days and for good reason. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are bringing companies more business every day. In fact, Pepsi announced recently that for the first time in 23 years they are not going to be advertising Pepsi in the Super Bowl! Instead of doing Super Bowl ads Pepsi plans to spend 20 million dollars (yes, that’s million) on a social media campaign. This announcement highlights the shift for companies, both big and small, when it comes to spending marketing dollars on social networking.

Does Social Networking really work?

Asking whether social networking works is like asking whether any form of networking works? Why go to networking breakfasts? Why attend industry functions? If you don’t leave a networking breakfast with a contract, but you leave having made three good contacts, was it a waste?

Whether you’re talking about Facebook or Twitter or some other social networking site, it’s good to go in with an end in mind. What are you trying to get out of it? Are you trying to improve your brand? Establish communication with your customers? Take advantage of social networking’s viral aspect? Meet other industry leaders?

Each of these purposes will require a different approach. Twitter and Facebook are excellent for reaching out to your customer base and spreading your branding message. Linked In and Plaxo are better for reaching out to other business owners for forming strategic partnerships.

So, yes, social networking works, but only if you have a clear goal in mind and use the proper method to achieve that end. Approach social networking like any other networking event or like a trade show, and you’ll probably be happy with your results. Approach it like buying a billboard ad or sending out a direct mailing advertisement, and you might be disappointed.

What’s my ROI?

Trying to measure a Return on Investment, or ROI, for a company’s social networking strategy may be like asking someone to quantify happiness (although apparently some people try to do that). Measuring the effectiveness of your marketing is a big key to being successful. So, it’s understandable that a business needs to measure the costs of any marketing strategy it implements and then measure the monetary results to find out if the strategy is worth continuing. But how can you possibly measure the results of your participation in social media networks?

The good news is that the actual financial investment in social networking is pretty low. Unless you’re paying someone to do your social networking for you (or are purchasing advertising on a social networking site), you’re looking at more of a time investment than a monetary one. So, your dollar investment may not require a lot of return to justify what you spend.

However, as the saying goes, “time is money”. If you spend hours every day on social networking at the expense of other business activities, that needs to pay off. So, how can you measure whether you’re spending the right amount of resources on your social networking strategy?

Again, you’ll want to start with an actual strategy, complete with some measurable end.

Want to get out your brand message?

Perhaps the strategy is to increase the number of people following you on Twitter or the number of fans on Facebook. That’s something you can measure.

Trying to establish a particular contact within a company?

Map out how to get closer using Linked In. Did you manage to get linked in to a contact within the right company or within the right industry this month? Great! You’re on the right track.

Of course, there are some tools that can help you look at your numbers. You can use Google Analytics or other similar programs to track your traffic and see where it’s coming from– visitors to your site from a social networking site is a good indication that you’re doing something right. Each site generally has its own set of helpful tools, as well. For example, Facebook fan pages have an “insight” section that provides you information about the number of visitors, interactions and even demographic information about your fans.

So, what’s the bottom line?

The real return on investment for social networking is that it builds a community of people who go on to boost a company’s brand. It also provides a forum where a company can defend itself against detractors. In many ways, social networking sites are more of a public relations tool than a marketing tool.

The new media engages a company and its potential customers in a conversation. If people get value from your social media presence it will boost your company’s image and cause more word of mouth advertising to take place, and word-of-mouth is the generally the best possible form of advertising. While word of mouth traffic generated from social media is difficult to track in terns of ROI, it provides traffic that has already been convinced by “social proof” that your brand is worth viewing. These are potential clients who are already half sold on buying from you, so when you actually DO traditional marketing, you’re more likely to get a return.

Social media optimization is not about spending X amount of money and raking in Y amount of dollars through a clear connection. It’s about creating a positive, cooperative atmosphere that will eventually bring good results to your business. In order to maximize your profits, your company needs to build an excellent social media presence in 2010 and beyond.

Why Is Twitter So Popular?

To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question.

There’s no denying that Twitter is a social networking phenomenon. Let’s face it; once Oprah got on the Twitter train in April this year, you knew it was probably something you should check out. Despite the fact that it was originally meant to help teens keep track of each other, it has grown up considerably over the past year. In fact, the vast majority of the network’s users are adults, not kids. Only 11% of Twitter’s users are between the ages of 11 and 17. Twitter has become much more than just another way to find out if your friend is at the coffee shop or if Ashton Kutcher is vacationing in the Caribbean. Talk to a teen, and they’ll probably tell you that Twitter is lame; they’d much rather go on Facebook to have longer chats, exchange photos, and play games.

So why the adult interest?

The 140-character limit on posts would, at first, not seem to lend itself to anything more than “At the grocery. Lines are long.” But Twitter is about a lot more than just sending mundane messages into the ether. Though Kutcher beat CNN in a challenge to gain a million followers this spring, CNN acquired a ton of followers themselves. To date, they add up to over 2.8 million people receiving their breaking news. (Sure, Kutcher still has them beat at over 4 million followers, but that’s a lot of people who get instant updates without turning on the TV.) You don’t have to follow Britney Spears; there are news organizations like NPR and CBS, politicians like Barack Obama, John McCain, and Al Gore. Keep up with sports by following the Twitter feeds from the NBA, NFL, or MLB.

Though it may seem daunting to have countless tweets clogging your phone on a big news day, there are ways to narrow it down and even conduct research.

Do a search through a Twitter aggregator so you can stay tuned into the news only you care to read about. Twist, Tweetizen, and Twitturly are three aggregators that can help you narrow your searches by topic, filter lists based on keywords and tags, form groups to facilitate discussion on a particular topic, and keepa tally of how many times the news story, video, or picture has been posted or retweeted. Got a product you think is going to take off? Check out the buzz on Twitter, invite people to join your group, it’s all free advertising.

There’s big business to be found on Twitter.

More and more companies are jumping on the bandwagon to offer links to websites, coupons, information on new products, sale announcements, and more. There are rumors that advertisements will soon be included in the network. Twitter could charge a small fee and not have to look for content. It’s all provided for free by tweeters.

Twitter is even becoming a great place to find a job.

Companies that are looking for social-media savvy employees have decided that the best way to find them is to go to the source. As job boards become more saturated, hiring professionals are finding more of what they want on Twitter, and at a cheaper cost than advertising on the regular boards. Many HR professionals will accept tweeted questions like “what should I wear to the interview?” and tweet back an answer in reasonable time.

It isn’t all sunshine and roses for Twitter right now.

October numbers reported the first decrease of unique domestic users. It’s only 8%, which still leaves a whopping 19.2 million, but that’s enough to worry some investors. New features, like retweets and lists are in place to help reverse the trend. The question that has yet to be answered is why the drop, and is it truly a concern? It’s possible that it’s just a settling in period, especially with more youth users moving on to other social networking options. But with so many adults and businesses finding ways to work more efficiently and economically with this tool, it seems unlikely to fade away any time in the near future.

Twitter’s undeniable popularity is backed by more than fad and fancy.

There are few options out there that allow you to make a brief, instant connection with potentially 19.2 million people in such an easy, cheap and fun way. Whether you are job hunting, researching a product, or just keeping up with your favorite sports team, Twitter has an application to help you achieve your goals for both business and liesure.

Welcome To Our New Blog

Welcome to the official blog for Mantyweb LLC. On this new blog we will be sharing Internet marketing, SEO, Local Search, Web Design and other business tips along with news about our company. We hope you enjoy it.

Blessings,
George And Jill Manty

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