Social Media Marketing (SMM)

sem[c] can help you sort out the social media jungle.
We’ve been using various types of social media, as appropriate, for our clients for years. For all the hype one is led to think that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and all the other permutations are the silver bullet of marketing. In fact, we have found that the effectiveness varies from business to business according to a number of variables. Some types of social media work better for lifestyle-oriented businesses while others are more appropriate for B2B.

One of the dirty little secrets of a successful social media deployment is the same dirty little secret that applies to websites – fresh content is absolutely necessary. This is a requirement that is easily met if a business owner likes to write or has someone on staff that is a good writer. If not someone needs to be hired that can act as the voice of the business. Social media is only successful when this voice is engaging to the audience.

The current “common knowledge” about the importance and ease of social media is reminiscent of the early overly enthusiastic “if you build it they will come” hype about websites. In either case, implementing a strategic plan is what is going to help generate the interactions that will be good for your business.

Please contact us with any questions about using social media successfully.

 

Is Facebook better for marketing than email?

Let’s set aside the fact that a large part of the population has given up on email. Many if not most people in their 20’s pretty much stick to text and Facebook. Other people of all ages have become hyper-sensitive to the wide variety of emails that may or may not be “spam”. So the real question is about how to use the current state of affairs to create an effective online marketing presence for your business.

There is a fundamental problem with thinking that email marketing is “better” than social media marketing. They both have strengths and weaknesses.  These characteristics make them great partners but in no way are they alternatives for each other.

Email marketing:

  • Pluses:
    • Elicits an immediate response.
    • Easy to implement and maintain using resources like Constant Contact
  • Minuses
    • It’s great that the effect is so quick but it is completely over in a few days.
    • Anti-spam mentality is so sensitive that there will always be “Do not write” responses to any list
    • The effectiveness is completely reliant on the quality of the mailing list


Facebook (Social media) marketing:

  • Pluses
    • Will produce pretty much forever since everyone seeing your messages has opted in.
    • Is viral by nature so there is a built-in mechanism that increases the number of people seeing your messages
  • Minuses
    • Takes time to establish a number of followers
    • Requires good content generation on a timely basis
    • Requires giving a value to interest new followers


The two, when working together, can overcome the shortcomings of the other and give your business a coordinated online marketing approach.

Contact me to begin planning how to achieve this for your business.