Social Media Marketing seems to be the newest buzzword for anyone looking to increase their online presence and sales, but is it all Social Media Marketing (SMM) appears to be?

SMM companies are now springing up everywhere these days and telling anyone who will listen how incredibly important social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are to your business, but, for the average small and medium business, it makes social media marketing. Does networking really live up to all the hype? Is it really worth spending a small fortune to hire an SMM company? And has anyone actually looked into this before hiring someone to set up a Facebook business page? Some SMM companies are setting up things like Facebook business pages (which are free) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their customers they don’t need a website because Facebook is the largest social network in the world and everyone has a Facebook account. Now while it may be true that Facebook is the largest social network in the world and yes, Facebook members are potential consumers, the real question is whether they are actually buying. Social media marketing companies are very happy to point out the positive aspects of social media like how many people use Facebook or how many tweets were sent last year and how many people watch YouTube videos etc. But are you getting the full picture? I once sat next to an SMM “expert” at a business seminar talking to anyone within earshot about the amazing benefits of setting up a small business Facebook business page (with him of course) and sell on facebook So, intrigued by the advice of the aforementioned “experts”, I looked him up on Facebook and found that he only had 11 friends on Facebook (not a good start). So, being the research nut that I am, I decided to take a hard look at SMM in regards to selling to see if it really worked, who it worked for, and if it worked, why did Social Media Marketing work for them? And should companies rely so heavily on social media for sales?

As a web developer, I was constantly (and now increasingly) faced with various social media challenges when potential clients said having a website sounds good, but they had a Facebook business page and various feeds (the ever-present but anonymous ones). they told me. them”) that social media was the thing to do, but after discussing their needs it became pretty clear that these prospects didn’t really know why they needed social media or SMM to drive online sales, they just wanted it. small and medium businesses i always recommend building a quality website on top of any kind of social media why well actually its simple because social media is Social The media and social networks are Social networks that are No business media and business networks (which would be more like LinkedIn). I know it sounds simple, but it’s true and the statistics back it up. The fact is that social media marketing does not tell you that Facebook is a social network, not a search engine, and despite the fact that the number of Facebook and Google users is almost the same, people do not use Facebook in any way. the same way they use a search engine like Google (which has about half of the search engine market), Yahoo, and Bing to search for businesses or products. They use it to keep in touch with family and friends or for news and entertainment. In a recent study by the IBM Institute for Business Value, about 55% of all social media users said they do not interact with brands through social media, and only about 23% actually use social media purpose to interact with brands. Now, of all the people who use social media and interact with brands, whether on purpose or not, the majority (66%) say they need to feel like a company is communicating honestly before engaging.

So how do you use social media marketing? And is it worth doing?

Well, first of all, I would say that having a well-optimized website will still bring you a lot more business than social media in most cases, especially if you are a local small or medium business because a lot more people will type “barber”. Port Macquarie” on a search engine like Google, Yahoo and Bing than ever on any social networking site and if you don’t have a website you are missing out on all that potential business. Yet despite all the (not so good), I still think it’s still a good idea for companies to use social media, but not in the same way that many SMM professionals do today. Why? Because it’s clearly not working the way it’s they say it does.Basically, SMM Companies and Business as a whole viewed social media like Facebook as a new and ripe market to be picked up and when Facebook started having users measured in the millions, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested US $500,000 for 7% of the company (as of June 2004) and since then some venture capital firms have made investments in Facebook and in October 2007 Microsoft announced that it had bought a 1.6% stake from Facebook for $240 million. However, from Facebook’s humble beginnings until now (2012), both SMMs and businesses have failed to truly capitalize on the sheer number of Facebook users online. The truth is that the numbers do not equal the buyers. Is it in the best interest of a Social Media Marketing company to talk about social networks? Absolutely. Is it in a Social Network like Facebook the best for people to believe that companies can sell in mass by advertising and marketing with them? Of course it is. In early 2012, Facebook revealed that its profits had increased 65% to $1 billion in the previous year, as its revenue, which comes mainly from advertising, increased nearly 90% to $3.71 billion, so clearly the MMS concept is working for them, but is working out for you? Well… statistically no, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it never will.

I think the main difference between social media and search engines is intent. People using Google are deliberately searching for something, so if they’re searching for hairdressers, that’s what they’re looking for at that particular time. With something like Facebook, the main intention is usually to connect with friends and family. In October 2008, Mark Zuckerberg himself said: “I don’t think social networks can be monetized in the same way that search (search engines) did… Three years from now we have to figure out what is the optimal model But that’s not our main focus today.” One of the biggest problems companies face with social media and SMM is perception. According to the IBM Institute for Business Value study, there were “significant gaps between what companies think consumers care about and what consumers say they want from their social media interactions with companies.” For example, in today’s society, people won’t just give you recommendations, Facebook likes, comments, or details without receiving something in return, so the old adage “what’s in it for me?” come into play So, the main reason most people give to interact with brands or businesses on social media is to receive discounts, however, the brands and businesses themselves think that the main reason people interact with them in social networks is to learn about new products. For brands and companies that receive discounts, it only ranks 12th on their list of reasons people engage with them. Most companies believe that social media will increase promotion, but only 38% of consumers agree.

Businesses need to find more innovative ways to connect with social media if they want to see any kind of results. There were some good initiatives shown in the IBM study of companies that had gotten some control over how they use social media to their advantage, noting that when asked what they do when interacting with companies or brands through On social media, consumers list “getting discounts or coupons” and “buying products and services” as the top two activities, respectively, an American ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery offered discounts on its products on its Facebook page. As an alternative, there is a great program launched by Best Buys in the US called Twelpforce where employees can answer customer questions via Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce, the profit is clearly in favor of the potential customer, and the big trick to social media marketing is to sell without trying to sell (or look like you’re selling). Unfortunately, most social media marketing is focused the wrong way. .

Building a tangible buyer-to-consumer relationship through social media isn’t easy and is probably the biggest benefit for businesses using social media to boost their websites up Google rankings. But businesses need to understand that you can’t just set up a Facebook business page and hope for the best. SMM takes effort and potential customers need to see the value of what you have to offer through your social media efforts. Offer them something worth their social interaction and time, and then you can get better results.

Now, as a footnote, Facebook stock is down to less than $20 a share, that’s half its original price… and lawsuits are flying.