Four reasons why you need to make a strong social statement

Posted by Prashant on Oct 23, 2011 in Social Media Marketing | 1 comment

Several research reports have established the fact that a large chunk of Internet users now visit a social networking site or read a blog. However, many smaller companies still are skeptical of social media marketing owing to certain myths that they harbor. Here are the reasons why you need to make a strong social statement:

1. An assumption that social Media hardly needs a strategy or it can be used sporadically, in an on-and-off manner is prevalent. This is not the way to harness social media’s unbounded reach. Instead the thrust should be on an innovative and consistent approach. Integrating your loyalty-card program with a location based service is a case in point. Social media platforms influence purchasing decisions. They can drive good amount of traffic to your site. You can give a further push through interactive contests and interesting multi-media contents. Once users identify with your brand, they will talk about it. The viral effect will result in lead generation and increased conversions.
2. Business owners can no more be passive to the social media phenomenon. It is time to embrace it wholeheartedly because your prospects are increasing getting active on it. Your brand will not be able to grab their attention if you stay away. Unfortunately, some businesses shun social media, believing any negative publicity on it will damage their business reputation. Top corporate houses such as BP have experienced the immense nuisance value of negative viral campaigns.  In fact, even a minor cribbing from a customer can go viral, leading to a flurry of negative comments. However, a constructive approach to such criticism is the right way to tackle it before the situation aggravates.
3. Engaging your customers helps in trust building and managing any crisis situation better. You can nip any online gossip in the bud with help of opinion makers and influencers like bloggers, reviewers, journalists etc can negate the nuisance of rumormongers. Social Media marketing may seem simple to master, but it has its own set of norms and challenges. Thinking that you will taste instant success with one viral campaign is a mistake. It’s a well-thought process backed by meticulous execution based on calculated trial & error methods.
4. A successful social media campaign needs to deftly integrate the interactive tools into the many facets of modern marketing techniques via blogs, networking sites, forums, user-generated content, ratings, contests and incentives. The new-age networking tools greatly influence purchasing decisions. But to leverage their power, considerable amount of effort is needed. You need to implement a well-conceived strategy.

If you want to draw attention of your prospects, you cannot afford to stay away from social media. This way, you will end up alienating yourself and your brand from the potential customers. Ultimately, your business will suffer. So it is high time that you make a strong social statement and strike a chord with the new media users.