Social Media Marketing: Beyond the Hype

These days, having a web site for your business is almost just as important as having a business card or an email address. But if you’re excited at the prospect of seeing your business online, get ready for the shocker—the customers don’t magically appear. So my question is, how are other online companies attracting large crowds to their web sites? Well, any good marketer is going to have a mixed bag of tricks, and one of them is the new sexy buzzword, Social Media Marketing (SMM)—but what is it, and is it right for your business?

WHAT’S SMM?
If your business has an online presence, SMM may be an option for you. Social Media Marketing typically challenges the rules of traditional marketing and often introduces interactive elements that enable visitors of your web site to interact with you, you to interact with your visitors, and your visitors to interact with each other. This can include Blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, email newsletters, and widgets. It can also include implementing social network features onto your web site or creating a presence in a variety of social networks including myspace, FaceBook, American Express Open Forum and others.

WHAT’S THE SCOOP?
A lot has been written about Social Media Marketing in the recent months; and none has been more revealing than a recent study conducted by Coremetrics, a leading provider of digital marketing optimization solutions. While the SMM acronym is picking up momentum, the adoption rate hasn’t been all that impressive. The study shows:

• 78% of respondents see social media marketing as a way to gain competitive edge, but only 7.75% of total online marketing spend is devoted to it


• This compares with an average of 33% of spend going to online advertising and 28% to online promotion design and implementation

However, progress is being made:

• 58% of respondents have implemented user-generated content or reviews in the past year
• 31% of respondents have implemented a blog in the past year
• 25% of respondents have implemented an RSS feed in the past year

HERE TODAY GONE TOMORROW?
So SMM is just another trend right? Well, that’s what I thought until I sent an email to CNBC Big Idea Technology Expert, Ramon Ray. In his words, Social Media Marketing is here to stay; however, he strongly recommends that you have a few elements in place before embarking on your Social Media quest.

1.) Have a GREAT web site
2.) Have a strong and informative email newsletter
3.) Have a strong and informative Blog

IS IT RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
While not all forms of SMM require a budget, most always require a notable amount of time. If you’re going to take on SMM, whether it’s a blog, email newsletter, or podcast, you need to create a regular publication schedule. Whether it’s once a week or twice a month, you want to make sure that you stick with it. Do your research before jumping in and clearly outline the goals you want to achieve by implementing Social Media into your marketing strategy. In the end only you know what’s best for your company, so please use this information for the benefit of your own knowledge.

I would love to hear your comments. Please let me know how your Social Media Marketing efforts are working for you.