Practical Social Media for business

Posted by Sarah Mitchell on 26 August 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Social Media, SEO, SEM, Networking, Online Marketing, Blogging, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter

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Introduction
Social media is quickly becoming a vital tool for business. Also known as social marketing, social networking and Web 2.0, the buzz around social media is impossible to avoid. The problem is the maze of products and surrounding hype make it hard to know how to engage with your clients and prospects. With a blurred line between personal and business usage, many people are nervous to enter the fray for fear of doing more harm than good.

This paper is developed for business owners or people that have marketing responsibilities in their job. It’s also suitable for anyone that wants to learn more about social media and successfully use it in their
professional lives.

The information contained in this paper is not exhaustive. Rather, it’s meant to provide enough practical advice, hints and tips to give the social media novice confidence to start engaging in the broader Web 2.0 community.

Market Drivers
Recent research clearly suggests that Word of Mouth (WoM) is one of the key influencers in consumer spending habits. A study conducted by PQMedia (www.pqmedia.com) published in July 2009 states:

Spending on word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing rose 14.2% to $1.54 billion in 2008, despite the worst economic recession in 70 years, accentuated by secular and structural trends battering year growth is expected to slow in 2009, WoM spending is on pace to grow another 10.2% this year, placing it among the fastest growing advertising and marketing segments. By comparison, the U.S. economy, as well as the advertising and marketing services sectors are all expected to decline in 2009 for the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930's.

That explains where people are investing their advertising and marketing dollars but it does not address why. In another recent research report, Bridge Ratings (www.bridgeratings.com), an American company providing audience measurements for radio, discovered that “strangers with experience” had rocketed up in ratings second only to “friends and family with experience”. This means consumers weigh the advice of a total stranger higher than teachers, newspaper/magazines and TV news reporters. Traditional advertising proved to be near the bottom of the list slightly ahead of telemarketers.