Successful Social Media Does Not Happen Overnight

Social media marketing is a smart move for your business. Period. But why is it a smart move for your marketing efforts? In essence, social media marketing fulfills the two B’s of marketing, which are described below.

Branding – The social networking sites allow your brand a chance to be seen and be heard, whether you’re posting quick news updates on Twitter or posting photos of your newest product on Facebook. Social media marketing offers a unique opportunity to showcase your expertise in your industry as well. When a company provides consumers quality information like helpful tips, special offers, and exciting stories at no cost, you become a reliable source of authority. Think of social media marketing as the domino effect; when one person shares your content, their friends see it too and then your content is shared across multiple networks of people. Similar to LinkedIn, when you add a new connection, at that point you have access to your new connection’s entire network of contacts.

Building – The second B of social media marketing is building relationships. Not only are you building relationships with probable customers, but you’re also strengthening the relationship with your current customers. Social media marketing enables your business to engage consumers at a different angle: digitally. And just because the engagement occurs online doesn’t mean it’s not meaningful. Think of it more as another means to connect personally with people who may not already know your company and those people who may think they know your business but have so much more to discover.

Check out this graphic below which shows the estimated time social media marketing can take each week. Keep in mind these are just approximations and not necessarily true for each and every business.

ReachCast is ReachLocal's award winning solution for business owners who wish to outsource their web presence optimization (Search Engine Optimization, Social Media and Reputation Management rolled into one) to trained experts in the field of Internet Marketing.

Which B of social media marketing is most important to you? Branding or building? Share your perspective in a comment!

About Alan Moore: Alan is an Internet Marketing Consultant with ReachLocal Baltimore. His mission is to help you increase your revenues and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He manages over $1.4 million in annual marketing budgets and has worked with local businesses, agencies and the US government. Give him a call at (877)655-3438 to schedule a free consultation.

What else can social media marketing do for your business? Check out additional resources: