Social media has experienced swift growth in the number of people who use it and the amount of revenue it generates. According to an Emarketer study released in June, business-to-consumer online sales are expected to reach $1.47 trillion this year and $2.38 trillion by 2018. These numbers are a testament to the growing power and influence of the Internet. They also explain the increasing competition for viewers, sellers and buyers in both the business-to-consumer and business-to-business worlds.
People continue to develop their decision criteria for what they view and experience online. One powerful factor is usually word of mouth. It”™s a huge influencer of buyer activity even for people who do a lot of research prior to making a purchase. For specific groups on the social blogging website Tumblr, for example, it can have a huge impact on sales. It also accounts for one of the key components of Facebook campaigns: the ability to target specific groups and individuals (for a fee) to elicit comments and feedback.
Webinars and videos also are highly effective because you (the purchaser) get to see the person (or company) in action. If, for example, I am searching for an accounting firm and I am influenced by a highly effective webinar presentation that addresses many of my questions and concerns, I will most likely follow up with the presenter and the company whom I already regard ”” maybe subconsciously ”” as experts.
Regardless of how large or small your company is, social media is too broad to be able to do more than focus on a few limited campaigns. The key thing is to do them well and ensure that they reach your targeted audience.
Potential digital activities you can focus on include content marketing, social media engagement, targeting and personalization, webinars, email marketing, brand building, content optimization, conversion rate optimization, analytics, video, blogging, mobile marketing, customer experience and support, search engine optimization, online services, advertising, personalization, marketing automation, trial and error testing, online promotions, feedback and reviews, and website appeal and effectiveness.
Realistically, you can only focus on a few of them, particularly since many of them ”” such as social media engagement ”” can be subdivided into a large subset of platforms and services. The key is to consider which areas are most important to your target market and how you can effectively and efficiently integrate some of these activities together. Simply put, you can”™t do them all, but you can incorporate several others in your campaigns.
My advice is to select three ”” and only three ”” main areas of focus. I would then delve down into these areas to determine those subsets that resonate with my target audience and develop my marketing and sales strategies. Finally, I would incorporate several of these other activities ”” such as trial and error testing ”” to support my marketing strategies.
Viewing social media as a whole can be overwhelming. It also is easy to get sidetracked and quickly undermine a campaign”™s effectiveness. By focusing on only a few key strategies ”” and doing them well ”” you can avoid many of the pitfalls and disappointing results of far too many companies.
Bruce Newman is vice president at The Productivity Institute L.L.C. and a regular contributor to the Business Journal. He specializes in content creation and digital marketing. He can be reached at bnewman@prodinst.com.
