Social Media, gismo to successful business

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In this internet era, social media becomes a revolution. Why social media is so exciting and relevant among us today? It gives various facets to communication such as participation, conversation, community etc. This media not only gives you plain information but also interacts with you. Most of the social media websites have links connected to other websites, resources and people. In a traditional media like newspaper, you have limitations to voice your opinion on a matter or news-item. However, social media services are open to audience feedback, participation and contributions in the form of comments, ratings, sharing information etc. It enables forming of communities where people can share common interests.In precise, social media is all about people and relationships. The various forms of social media include social networking, blogging, wikis, forums, content communities, podcasts and micro blogging.

Check this video link http://vimeo.com/89307127 to know how this new media has gained a phenomenal growth not only in the number of social media networks but also in the socio-demographic attributes of their user base. 
Today, our corporate world too considers social media as a great platform to promote their businesses. Why because, it is a low cost marketing tool and it increases brand reputation. Many organizations have their corporate profiles pop up on various social networking sites. Some others have set up their own company social media sites, communities and blogs to interact with their employees and customers. The biggest advantage is that you can engage with customers on a real-time basis responding to their queries and receiving their valuable suggestions, experiences and feedbacks. It brings out large variety of highly creative and innovative ideas and strategies to achieve your goals.
The popularity of social media networks has indeed redefined the concept of marketing. By giving new face for advertisements, they act as catalysts for customer-driven marketing campaigns to facilitate brand awareness and create customer engagement. This tool will definitely help your product get easily known worldwide as it reaches to massive audience with in no time.
With social media, not only big companies but small businesses can also able to use free tools to drive marketing through word-of-mouth while decreasing outbound marketing techniques.
For example, a company called Triumvirate Environmental (http://www.triumvirate.com/) that provides environmental services, generates $1.2 million in revenue using social media. Apart from the initial experiments with AdWords, the company started utilizing a variety of inbound and social media marketing techniques such as blogging, search engine optimization and LinkedIn.
According to Hubspot study, the key elements of small business social media success are:
  • Allocate weekly resources to create content and engage in social media.
  • Focus time and resources on social media channels which provide best results to your business.
  • Generate content often through Facebook, Twitter, Blogs or other social media channels. Post contents at least once a day and monitor interactions, likes and comments.                           
  • Use online communities to generate support and participate in offline business events. Look on community news and events, new e-mail newsletters and gain information and inputs on issues.
  • Set clear expectations beforehand for online customer service and engagement. Plan the frequency and type of interactions you will be providing them.
  • Provide some metrics to know how social media activity impact your business results. For example, Facebook insights – more than just Like, Twitter stats – retweeting, sharing and thanking, LinkedIn connections – maintain business relationships and professional contacts; conversion rate, sign-up for newsletters etc.
  • Use free tools like Google alerts to monitor news about your business online.
  • Blogging and Search Engine Optimization together can add value to your business.
  • Share industry knowledge through videos on YouTube to expand the reach of your content.
  • Share quality content, success stories, quotes and testimonials relate to your industry.
  • Use data and information to improve overall business strategies.
  • Provide clear call-to-action and opportunities to generate leads and new customers.  
Effective customer service is the core to any successful business. You need to engage and prove rather than convince and sell. Hence, customer engagement must be an ongoing process to boost your business. Be a good listener and open up a dialogue with your customer in an honest and intimate way. This will help you to gain loyal customers. Such relationships need to be mutually beneficial as on one hand the customers feel heard and get what they really want and on the other hand you get feedback and opinions to deliver right products and services to your customer in a timely way. Choosing the right platform and modifying it to meet your business requirements will definitely enhance opportunities for your business initiative. Remember, the basic mantra of success in social media is that each campaign has to be presented in a unique and engaged manner. 

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