29 Apr A Real Eye-Opener (Part Two)
Last week I told you about a research report titled “2011 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INDUSTRY REPORT: How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses”. I want to continue that discussion. Why am I sharing this? Because everyone is looking for that edge. I know you want more business. I’m convinced that social media is an inexpensive way to get that edge, to get new business.
Still not convinced? Results are results. What I found that was even more interesting was the cost of marketing using these tools. Most of these tools are free. What do you have to lose? And with more and more companies now using these tools you may just be left behind if you don’t get started. How prevalent is social media usage among marketers? You are going to be amazed how mainstream these techniques are becoming.
In fact, the research said, “A significant percentage of participants strongly agreed that overall marketing costs dropped when social media marketing was implemented. The self-employed (59%) and small business owners with 2 or more employees (58%) were more likely than others to see reductions in marketing costs when using social media marketing.”
But how do you measure results? A lot of people measure results in terms of Web traffic. The report indicated that “78% of participants found that increased traffic occurred with as little as 6 hours per week invested in social media marketing. And those who’ve been doing this for 3 years or more reported substantially better results (91% reported benefits).
Now you’re asking: How do I get started? Which social tools do I use? Not surprisingly, the report advised “By a long shot, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs were the top four social media tools used by marketers, with Facebook leading the pack. All of the other social media tools paled in comparison to these top four. It should be noted that in 2010, Twitter was in first place with 88% and Facebook was close behind with 87%. Since 2010, Twitter lost 4%, LinkedIn lost 7% and Facebook gained 5%. In 2009, only 77% of businesses were using Facebook.”
What are others doing? They’re taking advantage of this social media phenomenon. How so? The research concluded, “At least 73% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube/video, blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Businesses with 1000 or more employees indicated this is a key growth area. 92% of marketers are using Facebook and 75% plan on increasing their activities. At least 64% of marketers plan on increasing their use of search engine optimization and email marketing.”
What’s the big takeaway here? You need to start using social media. These results are real. Don’t you want to get your share of this success?