7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Social Marketing

June 11th, 2010 · No Comments · Facebook, Integrated Marketing, LinkedIn, marketing, networking, Social Marketing, social media, Success in Business, Twitter, Viral Marketing, web 2.0

This post is provided by Elizabeth Cutten. She helps run FindAirlineCards, an airline credit cards website helping both professionals, as well as individuals get the best rewards while traveling.

I’ve found that over the past few years, social marketing has exploded. You can’t go anywhere without hearing the words, “Facebook”, or “Twitter.” While the times change, business owners have to adapt as well. If you decide that you don’t want to go down this path, you’re going to have to wonder if you’ll be in business in the next 5 years.

So, the question today is, “Why do business owners need social bookmarking?”

And here’s the answer…

7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Social Marketing:

It helps you connect: It’s a great way to get in touch with your customers. If your customers love you, they are going to follow you. In turn, you’re going to be able to connect with them in every way possible. Have a sale coming up? Let them know!
Great way to target: Since every business out there does some sort of advertising, you’re going to find that advertising on Facebook is wonderful. Let’s say that you want to target 48 year old women that love cats. You can find these people and show the ads to these women only. How great is that?
Keep them updated: The more followers and fans that you get, the more of an audience that you can work with. Back in the day, if you had a message to send out, you would either have to message out a flyer, or maybe even call. Today, you can send out a simple message and you’re good to go!
It doesn’t cost much: If you want to target someone outside of the Internet, you’re more than likely going to have to send it to random houses. How do you know that these people are even interested? With the Internet, again, you can target who you want and it isn’t going to cost a lot.
It’s not that hard: Many business owners are afraid of technology. Frankly, I love it. Messing around with platforms such as Twitter and Facebook isn’t really that hard. You can learn within a few hours. If you really have some troubles, there are books out there that can help you out.
Great for branding: As more and more people drive to the Internet, you want to get your message out there. Even if they don’t plan on purchasing today, it’s a great way to brand. Make sure that you use something that’s memorable and is going to make people remember.
Meet great people: There’s more to social marketing than Facebook and Twitter. There are also great sites such as LinkedIn and more. This is a great way to connect with others in your field. So, you may not be able to pick up a new customer, but rather, make a lead that you wouldn’t have in real life.

Now that you know the reasons why you should at least try it, here are a few of my favorite websites. Check out a few of the following social media sites to get started.

(social media icons used in the above article image are supplied courtesy of: http://chethstudios.blogspot.com/)