Do You Shun Social Media?
When it comes to using online marketing tools, it seems that small business owners still haven’t put a lot of value on social media. That’s interesting because those same small business owners do put a lot of value on word of mouth advertising. They say it’s important.
The reason I find this puzzling is because social media is the new word of mouth. But I understand how some people might not see that.
If you consider that Facebook is the most trafficked website online and that it’s the new social club (without the drinks), then you might get a glimpse into why it might be useful to do some business networking through there. But don’t just take my word for it. Ask the people who are using it.
Then there’s LinkedIn. People asking questions and answering them. Introducing each other to connections. That sort of thing.
A lot of referrals take place through social media. Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. Google+. Even Quora. But if you talk to small business owners, you wouldn’t know it.
I’d recommend picking a social media website – any one will do – spend 15 minutes a day for two months just figuring it out, meeting new people, interacting in small ways, and see where it leads you. What would it hurt?
The Power Of Online Recommendations
Recommendations have long been one of the most important driving forces in a businesses success. Often dubbed “word of mouth advertising”, that same principle that was so precious offline is now even more important online. The only thing that has changed is the name – online recommendations – and the viral nature of these recommendations.
A recent report clearly underlines how important this has become online. The power of moms online has long been recognized and this is now delivering for those who can make use of their voice. According to the report, 79% of all moms with children under 18 are engaged in some way with social media. More importantly, 23% of those moms purchased a product for their child based on the recommendations of others.
You don’t need to be a mathematician to realize that those percentages equate to millions of sales, all based on recommendations. Around 40% of recommendations came from Facebook while 55% came from recommendations on blogs. The question for most marketers is how to capitalize on this trend. Unfortunately, there is only one way – you have to leave a positive impression on the moms that count – and hopefully they will recommend your products.
Moms have become a very picky group over the years. Gone are the days when you could send them a product and expect to see a recommendation on their blog. Instead, what you will now read is an honest appraisal of your product, warts and all. Of course, the upside is that a recommendation from those respected moms is almost a guarantee of traffic to your sites, and perhaps sales.
This can be extrapolated across a range of niches. Online recommendations are becoming one of the mainstays of online marketing. Convince those who influence others and you have won half the battle. The other half is meeting the expectations of customers coming from those recommendations.
You Think You Have Enough Referrals? Think Again!
One oft-repeated storyline we hear is, “I don’t need to advertise; I get a steady stream of referrals based on my reputation.” That’s great. We wouldn’t dare knock a great reputation, but let me give you something else to think about.
What if you could increase your business by 10% just with a little bit of advertising? Or, better yet, what if you could increase your business by 10% over and above what you spend on advertising. Would that be worth it?
Most business owners would say, “Yes.”
Ten percent may not sound like much, but if you do $100,000 worth of business in one month then that’s an additional $10,000 worth of business. And a website doesn’t cost anywhere near that much. If it does then you’re probably using the wrong web designer.
A pay per click advertising campaign might cost you $2,000 per month. If it brings in $5,000 in business each month over and above your current clientele then you can turn some of that business into lifetime customers. That’s the goal, isn’t it?
And it’s just as likely that new customers you acquire through online advertising and Internet marketing will also spread the word about your business. Online, there are some powerful word of mouth tools that you and your clients can use – many of them for free.
With just a little bit of expense, you can increase your business a great amount. So don’t knock advertising.
Can Viral Marketing Take Place Offline?
Viral marketing – is it just for online marketers or can it take place off line as well?
Viral marketing is just another name for word of mouth. It can manifest itself in any number of ways, online or off line. For instance, online viral marketing can occur when a video grows popular because many people have bookmarked it or shared it with their friends. Maybe they sent the link by e-mail or they bookmarked it on their favorite social bookmarking site. Perhaps they favorited it on YouTube or shared the link on Twitter or Facebook. The fact that a lot of people shared the video in a short period of time means the video has gone “viral”.
This phenomenon takes place off line in the same way. Suppose you open up an ice cream shop in your neighborhood. On your first day of business you get only 10 customers. But all 10 of those customers tell five friends, each of whom visit your store the next day.
That’s 50 customers on day 2. But what if those 5 customers told 10 of their friends about your ice cream shop? They e-mailed their friends, called them on the phone, talked to them at church or school. Wherever they bumped into their friends, you were mentioned.
Now you have 510 people who know about your ice cream shop. On day three suppose that half of your first day customers came back to visit you again. And suppose 20% of your second day customers returned. Furthermore, suppose that half of the people they told about your shop came in as well. On day 3 of your shop you’d have 265 customers. Now you’re really growing!
Now, suppose those customers each told 5 of their friends about you. And they all came into your ice cream shop some time over the seven days. Getting the picture yet?
Viral marketing can, and often does, take place off line as well as online. The key is to provide a remarkable service, something that people will talk about. If you can do that then you’ll go viral, whether you are online or off line.