How to Use Social Media to Raise Your Business
Social media is one of the fastest grow promotional methods online today. The ability to promote to millions upon millions of people online for free is amazing. Youtube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites are growing at extraordinary rates. While some people might just play games and talk with their friends on these types of websites, they can also have a great impact on businesses.
You might be wondering how websites that both major companies and schools block could be a great way to increase business. People spend a large amount of their free time on these types of websites! They look at what their friends are doing and generally follow what their friends have done. When their friends join a group, they will join it without even thinking about it. Should their friend suggest clicking on a link to a product they might like, it is done in a heart beat!
This still might not be convincing you of what social media can do. One of the most successful social media campaigns was with Butterfinger candy bars. They encouraged people to write a story about how they lost their Butterfinger. Then a user could put in their personal demographic information and receive a free candy bar. Thousands of leads were generated and all it cost was the postage and free candy bar coupon! A business could have gone out and done the marketing study to find which individuals were interested in Butterfingers but by allowing people to do it themselves they saved time and money.
Another great example of social media helping a business is companies that are on Twitter. Comcast Cable is a major cable company in some markets within the United States. Customers mock them due to their terrible record for customer service and pricing. Comcast has an entire team of support agents dedicated to social media platforms. They are actually able to help customers resolve their problems for good. During the NHL playoffs during 2009 the signal for one of the games was suddenly knocked out. Comcast posted an update to one of their Twitter accounts stating that it was a lighting strike to a transmitter and that the picture would be restored within minutes.
Social media does not have to be for a giant company though. In fact, many small businesses are getting into social media as quickly as they can. Providing excellent customer service online takes just moments a day. Word of mouth marketing is one of the most powerful assets that a company can have. The more people who are willing to spread positive messages about the company for free the less advertising dollars the company has to spend. Contests and customer service efforts that are made through social media platforms can dramatically decrease the amount of time a business spends on customer service! Social media is also working 24/7/365 to promote a brand and convince consumers that they should continue to buy, buy, buy!
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