Social Media can make Many Business Owners nervous.
Take a breath and know that it can be embraced and used in your marketing in small, slow steps!
What is Social Media?
At the very basic level, a social media site is a website. Unlike your company’s website that has a secure way to get into the “back end” and make changes, a social media site allows users to take some control. It allows them to make contact with other users, find friends and share information.
Social Media has opened the marketing door for a two-way conversation. It is about engagement, building relationships and interaction. It is a great marketing tool for keeping your “brand” in front of existing Customers, for retention, and being in front of potential new Customers. Social Media is about engaging the customer. It is not about selling. Companies that only sell on Social Media do not succeed.
Types of Social Media: There are thousands of Social Media sites. Some more popular than others.
- For sheer mass and constant engagement and interaction, there is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest and others.
- For strictly business engagement, start with LinkedIn and Manta.
- There are also sites for Third Party ratings and reviews. It’s important to know about these sites, monitor the reviews and respond when you can identify the person.
The Role and Importance of Social Media
- The Internet and Social Media play a large role in today’s successful business. Why? Because that’s where the customers of all ages are spending their time and getting their information.
- People rely more and more on their computers and even more on their mobile devices to search for information and make their purchasing decisions.
- Social Media is FREE and helps the search engines find you.
IMPORTANT!
With all of the positives of Social Media, keep this in mind. Social Media should not take the place of a company website. Information on a social media site becomes public information. Even with security settings, you can’t control it 100%. Nor do you own the account. The social media site owns your account. This is why every business should have its own website. That can be controlled 100%.
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InSight Marketing Solutions is a full-service marketing company, providing consulting services from planning to completion. This includes strategic marketing plans, social media and website integration, search engine optimization SEO, Blogs, email marketing, branding, customer retention and referral, advertising, promotional items, events, public relations, community outreach and fundraising. InSight Marketing Solutions works with businesses of all sizes nationally, regionally and in the Hampton Roads cities of Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News and Hampton.