The Practicality Of Social Media Marketing
It seems today that everyone loves social networking applications. First there was Facebook, and MySpace and now there are dozens of such applications. Everyone is using them, from all the major news networks, to NBA basketball players ?Tweeting? from the locker room. These free applications provide an excellent promotion opportunity for a variety of people trying to attract visitors to their websites. The act of promoting on these websites has been coined Social Media Marketing.
The main advantage to this approach is the fact that these sites are free. Any person or business can make an account and be part of the network in seconds. Those who wish to promote their service or website can do so very quickly and easily on these sites. They also offer help to others in the network for free in order to gain positive PR for their organization. It is a fast and easy way to promote anything. There are many reasons to use these applications for your promotion needs. I will highlight some of the most important.
First and foremost, social media marketing is free. Many social networking interfaces come at no cost, unless the marketer seeks exclusivity on part of a site. Everything else (posts, comments, responses, etc.) is free, and infinitely cost-effective.
Second, you are tapping into niche markets. Blogs, forums, and other social marketing media are directed at certain groups that can relate to their theme. A webmaster pushing his technology site can join a technology-related forum and open the floodgates to a community of interested clients and customers. You needn’t promote to the broader group, many of whom aren’t engaged in the product, but instead you can market to those who have a stake in what you’re selling.
Video advertising at no cost. Social media applications let you post video advertisements for free. Youtube is the major application of free videos, but almost all social networking sites, like Facebook, allow free video sharing. Videos are the best way to promote your product and potential buyers are motivated to buy a product when they are entertained by the advertisement. Customer Feedback. Previous customers can give good reviews of your company, and even start discussions about your product or service. This will promote your products by the voice of normal people that have nothing to do with the company. Testimonials can be a powerful tool. This type of publicity will create confidence in your company and lead to many new customers.
Testimonial and Discussions. Past or present customers who were adequately satisfied with the product you offer is another really great tool in advertising. Potential clients will not only hear you say the product is good but someone unaffiliated with the company saying the same, thus helping to bring confidence in their purchase. This would create a better image not just for the product but for the company as well.
Affiliate Programs. The majority of subscribers to these applications are often compensated in some form for their cooperation. Some form of affiliate program is often used on an individual?s page to identify to visitors what they get in return when a visitor checks it. These and many more are some of the reasons why social media marketing is a good substitute for conventional advertising. Not only is it cheap, but it has unlimited potential being that the Internet is a global market.
Justin Harrison is an internationally recognised Internet Marketing Expert and entrepreneur who has built up multiple 7 figure online business and consults to some of leading online brands including Amazon, BBC, AIG and many others.
