Face Book, third largest country in the world:

What really is Social Media?

Prasanna PERERA- Marketing Consultant

Everyone is talking about Social Media. Organizations of all shapes and sizes are getting involved with it. Individuals too are crazy about it. What really is Social Media? In simple terms, social media enables you to socialize through the internet ;Internet is the "medium" through which this socializing is accomplished. Further, social media is an interactive way to communicate.

The Facts (Facebook)

The average user on Facebook has 130 friends. There are more than 55 million status updates each day. More than 10 million users become fans of pages each day. The average user spends 55 minutes on line.

Social Networking

In the 1800's networking was by word of mouth. After all, the phone wasn't invented until the 1870's. In the late 1980's AOL created chat rooms with member communities and profiles.

In the present, many of us are getting too much e-mail and our e-mail follows us on our texting devices. People are asking us to join their Facebook Fan page or follow them on Twitter. Therefore social networking is nothing new. People have been networking for centuries and centuries. The only difference is the devices and methodology.

The Big Seven

Face Book - Is considered the 3rd largest country in the world in terms of population, after China and India. Presently Facebook boasts of over 900 million users. The average age of the Facebook user is 39 and rising. The average income of a Facebook user is $ 89,000. (This clearly shows that older persons are on Facebook). Facebook has become the place to engage in business networking for 30 to 60 year olds.

Twitter - Is often called the "online cocktail party." All types of organizations, entrepreneurs and independent professionals are using Twitter to promote their businesses. It is widely believed that Twitter users are in the 33 to 50 age group, with females slightly outnumbering males.

LinkedIn - Is called "the cable channel of social media." LinkedIn has a white collar audience. The average age is 49 and there are approximately 53 million users.

MySpace - Is a popular site for the younger audience and for entrepreneurs targeting 14 - 26 year olds. MySpace has millions of users and is one of the most popular platforms for music and video collaboration.

YouTube and Online Video - Video marketing is going to become a must have element in your marketing strategy, during the next few years. With over 1 billion views per day on YouTube, video is extremely popular and here to stay

Blogs - Blogs are a great way to continue to build a following, share your expertise and get better at communicating with your readers and followers. Presently, new blogs are incorporating other components of social media marketing such as Twitter, Facebook and Video.

Ning - This site enables users to create their own social network. Ning has more than 1.8 million social networks created and more than 39 million registered members. The sites popularity is expanding rapidly, with more than 4,000 new Ning networks created each day. Members are from all walks of life.

The Social Media Marketing Strategy

In developing a Social Media Marketing strategy, you need to first develop some clear objectives / goals. A common objective is to drive traffic to the website, so that special discounts offered can be maximized. Another objective may be to build relationships with current and new customers. Whatever the objectives may be, a good starting point is to ask the following questions.

What is the profile of the ideal customer?

What is the purpose of engaging in social media?

What messages need to be sent to customers and prospects?

What social media platforms will be utilized?

Successful social media marketing requires a clear understanding of the target audience. What are their demographics in terms of age, income, occupation and gender? Where do they live? Where are they when they go online (home, office or both)? By knowing the target audience clearly, both valuable time and money is saved.

Social media strategy should also address gaining new customers. Of course, the exercise takes time and patience is required.

Simply using social media marketing to communicate with existing customers is a great business strategy. Businesses can share positive experiences with customers online and vice-versa. There are many ways to engage existing customer such as polling them electronically or surveying them online using various social media platforms. Customer can be sent a video message, photographs can be posted and customers can be interviewed on a podcast or on internet radio. Customers could also be featured on the company's Facebook page or newsletter. Once customers purchase products, they could be sent a message on Twitter and asked how they like the products. After obtaining their reviews, these can be posted as written testimonials or after seeking permission, a video testimonial can be produced and published on the company's social media sites. The power of social media comes from customers hearing from other customers, about their experiences with organizations, brands and products / services.

Going Viral or Viral Marketing can be practiced through social media. Messages spread like wildfire, both positive and negative about organizations, products and experiences. Therefore organizations must be ready for the results, both positive and negative.

Negatives of Social Media Marketing

Social media is an ideal platform to carry out "Digital Assassinations." The reputation of an organization, brand or product can be destroyed in a few seconds. Hence, when engaging in social media marketing, this risk will always be present.

There is no escape and a contingency plan needs to be prepared. Cyberspace must be monitored by organizations on a daily basis and necessary engagements carried out accordingly.

Mastering the Four Pillars of Social Media Marketing.

Any successful social media marketing strategy needs to be supported by four pillars. They are, communication, collaboration, education and entertainment.

Communication

What are you really communicating, How is your communication perceived by your audience? How do you measure the effectiveness of your communication strategy?

Collaboration

Is it possible or even advisable to get your customers and prospective customers to engage in some form of collaboration, that will benefit your company?

Education

How often are you required to educate your internal or external audience?As an organization, do you look for opportunities to educate your audiences?Entertainment

Do you realize the opportunity to entertain your company's audiences, through interesting attributes or your product or service?