Quick! When you need to find information right now where do you go? I imagine you answered, “The Internet.” The next question is, when your clients or potential clients are looking for you and the goods and services you offer, where will they find you? Hopefully you answered the same way, “The Internet.”
Chances are, your competitors are plying their wares on the world wide web through their website, Facebook, Twitter, blogging or other social media. If you haven’t taken the plunge into social media you are missing myriad opportunities. When you keep in mind that Facebook topped Google as the most visited site on the Internet, if you aren’t using social media your potential customer base is passing you by.
Consider this:
- Fifty percent of active Facebook users log in at least daily and spend close to an hour a day and are posting more than 500 updates a second.
- There are 1.6 million active Facebook pages and more than 350 million active users
- When it comes to Twitter, there are close to 20 million users who are posting an average of 600 tweets a second
That is a lot of information being exchanged. When you take those numbers and couple it with your competition who might be taking advantage of blogging as a way to spread the word about themselves, you simply need to be swimming in that information ocean, don’t you think?
When you also consider that you can easily implement a social media marketing strategy for little or no money other than the time it takes you to set up a page, social media is one of the best low cost, no cost marketing strategies out there.
Don’t think that just because you don’t have an active social media presence that your disgruntled clients can’t be saying “bad things” about you. They can and they are. If you have a social media presence you have the ability to respond to those comments and diffuse the situation.
Additionally, savvy consumers want to do business with business owners with whom they feel a connection. If they see that your business is on Facebook posting status updates they form a vicarious connection with you and are more likely to do business with you. If you have a blog for your business – whether you sell widgets or knitting needles or public relation services – your blog is where you can sell yourself on your expertise. Writing about your area of expertise sets you up as an authority and the go-to person when potential clients are seeking your goods or services.
Here are five other reasons to jump into social media:
- Stay up to date on your industry
- Track what others are saying about your business and respond to those comments
- Offer emergency updates or jump in when a breaking trend happens in your industry
- Offer amazing customer service through your social media presence. Ask and answer questions
- Drive traffic to your website
By Guest Blogger Robbi Hess
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
