Social Media Marketing – YAWN!!! But then, you are almost dead without it.

How much would you trust a company that is not present on any of the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Youtube?

When I asked this question to a small random population of 100 people, the answer was 57% of them wouldn’t trust such company! Ahem, that sounds harsh. If a company already has a website, an email address, and a phone number, isn’t that sufficient groundwork? But then it’s a rhetorical question.

Today Social Media has become the key marketing and strategic channel for every business that transacts directly with their end-customers. Consumer-driven markets have typically a high degree of volatility and unpredictability, where users’ trends take frequent, often chaotic turns. Since decades, B2C companies have annually invested millions of dollars to conduct extensive studies, researches and analysis of consumer behavior to grow their market reach and profitability.

Since 2010 the majority of B2C companies have overhauled their marketing strategies by leveraging social media as their primary engagement channel. Businesses are using and among other social media platforms to create a 360 degree presence that allow users to understand a company’s goals, philosophy, and values and in turn enable companies to evaluate users’ interests and behavior. As the next step, Businesses have used insights generated from users’ interactions to create customized services and products that cater to their preferences.

We have noted earlier the unique advantages offered by SM Platforms in reaching out to hundreds of millions of existing and potential customers.It enables businesses to execute an end-to-end marketing strategy at a significantly lower cost and time. Social Media has helped brands in the following areas:

1. Gauge target market size and success possibilities

2. Create brand-awareness

3. Create brand reputation

4. Directly target individual users to sell services and products

5. Address complaints before they escalate

6. Create fan-following and advocates

Social Media platforms brought these features on a platter and therefore it’s easy to understand why top Fortune 500 companies like Walmart, Coca Cola, KLM, Microsoft, General Motors, MetLife, Verizon and many others now use social media as their main channel of marketing and audience engagement. These companies have presence across multiple social media platforms (in fact in certain cases they have multiple presence on the same SM platform), are followed by millions of fans, frequently post pictures, videos, surveys & messages to engage audience, and their posts are shared thousands of times every day. These companies have invested heavily in social media by having a dedicated team of professionals, have purchased specialized social media tools and have allocated budgets of millions of dollars to meet their objectives.

Social Media technologies have not only helped existing businesses to grow, but they have also spawned a new category of businesses that are powered by collaborative-strength of networked users. Multi-billion dollar companies like Wish, Social Finance (SOFI), and Airbnb are exclusive products of Social Media age. These companies have their core business models rooted in technologies that enable social sharing and collaborations, riding on the strength of user-generated content, networked connection, and social insights.

The upshot is Social Media is not just a buzzword anymore. It’s a serious business avenue for every company that is serious about its business.

#Socialmedia, #onlinemarketing, #socialmediatechnologies #marketingrevenue