Social Media Marketing | Why Use Social Media Marketing for Advertising?

 

 

Social Media Marketing

According to a recent report on social media marketing, released by www. SocialMediaExaminer. com, 83%of businesses find a benefit in using social media marketing for advertising. Why is that?As the chart above details, the two greatest benefits of social media marketing for advertisingare increasing exposure and increasing traffic.

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A significant 85% of all marketers indicatedthat their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses. Increasingtraffic was the second major benefit, with 69% reporting positive. Here are some of thetop reasons for using social media marketing for advertising. Social Media Marketing for Advertising | Increased ExposureIf your business is seeking to increase its exposure, then implementing a social mediamarketing plan is a positive step in the right direction. According to the report, even witha minimal time investment, the vast majority of marketers (85%) indicated their socialmedia efforts increased exposure for their business. The more time you put into socialmedia marketing, the better results you can yield. Nearly all marketers who’ve beenemploying social media marketing for a year or longer report it generates exposure fortheir business. A significant 95% of those conducting social media activities for morethan 3 years agree, as opposed to 73% of those who’ve been doing it for 6 months or less. Since social media marketing for advertising is not a fad or flash in the pan, it is smartfor businesses to plan on utilizing the strategy and develop any necessary resources to performsocial media functions for the long term. Like wine, the results get better with time. Social Media Marketing for Advertising | Increased SalesThe end goal for most marketing plans is to increase sales and revenues and social mediahas proven to achieve this goal. According to the report, 58% of marketers who have beenusing social media for more than 3 years report it has helped them improve sales. But it takesmore time and effort than just putting up one post on Facebook per week. More than halfwho spend 11 or more hours per week find the same results and over 65% of those who spend30+ hours earn new business through their efforts. Therefore, a question business ownersshould be asking is ‘how much time commitment can I dedicate to a social media marketingplan?’ There’s no doubt that social media works, but does the small business owner havethe time and resources to make it work? If not, then outsourcing to social media marketingcompanies may be the best way to go. Social Media Marketing for Advertising | Lead GenerationFor some online marketers, the goal of their social media marketing plan isn’t to generatea sale, but rather to generate leads or opt ins. Social Media has shown to be a very effectivetool for lead generation. According tot he report, by spending as little as 6 hours perweek, 61% of marketers see lead generation benefits with social media. This is a significantincrease over 2011 (52%). A significant 65% of small business owners were more likelythan others to generate leads, compared to the 58% average for all marketers. A strong78% of marketers with 3+ years of experience gained leads from social media marketing. Social Media Marketing for Advertising | Reduced Advertising CostsFacebook alone is expected to have over 1 billion users world wide by the end of 2012…and it’s free to use. TV, radio, and newspaper ads are very costly and generally yield poorresults. Conversely, the main financial cost of social media marketing is the time it takesto gain success. Nearly half of those who spend at least 11 hours per week on socialmedia efforts saw a benefit of reduced marketing expenses. The self-employed (57%) were morelikely than others to see reductions in marketing costs when using social media marketing. Overa third of all mid-sized and large company respondents said social media had not reducedtheir marketing expenses. Social Media Marketing for Advertising | Buildinga Loyal Fan Base Interaction and repeated engagement are twocommon goals for most social media marketing plans. A newspaper, TV, or radio ad only affectsthe reader for a short period of time. For example, if you use the conventional methodsfor advertising to promote an event, after the event, you are left with no residual marketingaffects. If you have another event, you will have to start marketing from scratch again. With social media, you can hold on to those Fans and continuously engage them. Time investedmakes a difference. Sixty percent of those spending at least 6 hours a week found benefit,compared to 46% of those spending 5 hours or less per week. In conclusion, if you’re looking for reasons why you should use social media marketingfor advertising, then implementing an effective, low cost advertising platform that allowsfor brand exposure, lead generation, increased sales and revenue while building a loyal fanbase should be enticing. If the prospect of using social media marketing is exciting butyou don’t know how to get started, then training is important. http://socialmediain7minutes. comis designed to educate small business owners on how to use Facebook, Google+, Twitter,LinkedIn, YouTube, Local Search, and mobile to advertise their business.