The traditional marketing model was to obtain as many eyeballs on your product or service’s message as possible and hope a percentage of customers purchase. Yellow pages, radio advertising, direct mail, television commercials, magazine ads, etc.. are examples of these traditional advertising methods. These conventional types of marketing are no more effective as many consumers have become blind to the ‘one way’ messaging. The message has been overdone and people no longer trust advertisers. A recently available survey found that only 14% of people trust ads while 76% of individuals trust consumer recommendations. Accordingly, more marketers began seeking alternative ways to connect with potential consumers.

Marketing on the Internet was originally made popular by utilizing Websites and optimizing the websites through SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO) techniques. While still a worthwhile strategy, SEO has been updated by Web 2 2.0 strategies, such as social media marketing. Social media marketing is when companies utilize Web 2 2.0 platforms, such as blogs, social media sites (like Facebook, Google+, Foursquare, Twitter, & YouTube) along with other emerging online marketing tools. The benefit of blogging platforms 2.0 platforms versus traditional method of advertising, and even traditional website marketing, is that it involves ‘two-way communication’, where users are empowered to create content and businesses are incentivized to communicate with their customers.

The times of broadcasting your product or services message out to the masses and longing for a response are gone. People don’t want to obtain nameless, faceless companies. Not merely are consumers watching the ‘man behind the curtain’, but they also wish to know what others are saying about your service or product. A recent study figured 80% of US Internet using moms were influenced by word-of-mouth from family and friends when coming up with a purchase decision. No other media platform allows for small businesses to benefit from consumer word of mouth advertising like social media.

Benefits Of SOCIAL MEDIA

Increased New Customer Acquisitions – The main advantage of social media marketing is that you will have the opportunity for connecting with networks of potential prospects that you would otherwise struggle to come across utilizing other conventional marketing techniques and also SEO.

Word of Mouth Marketing- Referral marketing has always been the most influential solution to generate sales. With social media marketing, it is possible to create raving fans who’ll voluntarily promote your product and services to their networks of friends. Of course, if your product or service is poor, you might suffer the reverse benefits of this.

Brand Awareness – Branding your organization using social media marketing is a lot simpler, faster, and less costly to achieve than the traditional advertising medium as well as website marketing.

Customer Retention – Web 2 2.0 platforms will be the perfect places to communicate with your customers about services, special promotions, or just to educate them on your business. Through consistent, FREE communication, you can keep your company in front of your customer’s eyeballs that will in turn lead to repeat business and referrals. Remember, the main element to this type of communication is usually to be content rich; avoid these avenues to pitch your product or service.

Lifestyle Enhancement – The effective and successful implementation of a social media plan will create almost immediate results for the business. This increase can be quantified through increased site traffic, increased lead acquisition, and ultimately more sales. Unlike radio or TV ads, where your visitors disappear once the ads go off air, these blogging platforms 2.0 platform benefits will continue long-term provided that the communication and updating of your social media marketing presence is maintained.