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Keeping up with the Social Media Revolution

Guest post by: Julie Weishaar

Article Overview: Social media marketing has totally transformed the landscape of the business world today. Companies need to understand it, embrace it and utilize it in the most beneficial manner for their specific industry niche and business situation.

Keeping up with the Social Media Revolution

Unless you have been living in a cave, you have heard of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But have you realized how strong the impact that these sites and others are having on the marketing, advertising, PR and communications functions of your small business?

Marketing has been turned upside down from one based on traditional methods to a reputation and consumer-driven perspective. Consumers are relying more and more on what others say about your brand rather than what you tell them. Purchase decisions are made based on perceptions from others who have a strong influence on the decision-maker. One unhappy customer's story can spread like wild fire over the many available Internet communication channels. Because of this trend towards empowered consumers, companies are compelled to give special attention to their reputation and customer service.

Traditional marketing focused on getting your message out to the masses as often as possible relying on repetition as a key in influencing consumer decision making. While this is still important, it is superseded by a brand's quality of engagement, perceived value and level of trust.

Perceived value is an extremely important part of this new age of social media influence. In social media marketing, freebies have become the norm. The onus of creating this perceived value is on the small business owner to give things or information away for free in an effort to build relationships, provide value, and prove that he or she is an expert in their specific field.

In addition, response time has taken on a whole new level of importance. Gone are the days of getting back to an unhappy customer when you have the chance. While you are tending to other pressing business matters, a disgruntled customer may be sharing a perceived negative experience with your company by sending out a tweet, posting a blog article or writing on a forum site. As a small business owner, you no longer have the luxury of waiting to respond to a complaint - you need to act quickly to manage your reputation and tend to any negative publicity you might be faced with in the world of social networking.

Even in light of the changes in the business world today, this is not to say that traditional marketing methods are no longer effective. What it does mean is that the power of social media, both the positive and the negative, is a force to be reckoned with and should not be ignored by any business owner. Knowing the influence your reputation, customer service and perceived value has will put you in the driver's seat when it comes to marketing your small business.

Capitalize on the positives and manage the negative effects of social media marketing to position your brand in the most favorable light.

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Article Tags: communication channels, communications functions, consumer decision, decision maker, internet communication, linkedin, marketing advertising, media marketing, negative experience, onus, pressing business, purchase decisions, small business owner, social media influence, social networking sites, traditional marketing, tweet, twitter, unhappy customer, wild fire



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


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