what's social media marketing

What is social media marketing? This is a question we hear a lot from our customers. Sure, they've heard about Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the rest - but what is social media marketing and how can it be used to generate business?

Social Media Marketing is Word-of-Mouth

One way to envision the effectiveness of social media is to think of another powerful form of marketing: word-of-mouth or "conversation" marketing. Word-of-mouth marketing has been responsible for many small business success stories. You've probably even engaged in word-of-mouth marketing for some of your favorite businesses. This type of marketing is so effective for two reasons: 1.) the source is credible; and 2.) it is highly targeted. Contrast this to traditional broadcast marketing where 1.) the pitchman has limited credibility; and 2.) targeting is more shot-gun effect than precise science. The same logic works online. Let's look a quick word-of-mouth scenario in Facebook marketing:

1. Joe knows a great coffee shop;
2. He becomes a fan of that coffee shop on Facebook in order to receive special promotions
3. Joe suggests a friend who loves coffee also become a fan and receive the special promotions

This bit of Facebook marketing was completely organic and completely based on word-of-mouth. Joe is a credible source because he loves coffee and his friend knows it. Likewise, the Joe knew the friend liked coffee-Joe did the work of selecting which friends in his social network would benefit from this promotion.

Social Media Marketing is Also a bit Like Broadcast Media Marketing

This statement might surprise you , since we just talked about the benefits of word-of-mouth marketing over broadcast media marketing. However, traditional offline word-of-mouth marketing will always be limited by its reach. Online, social media marketing has the potential to reach millions of people. In this way, Facebook marketing and Twitter marketing have more in common with broadcast media and its tremendous reach.

Social media marketing then combines the credibility & targeted effectiveness of word-of-mouth marketing with the reach and potential impact of broadcast media! Pretty powerful stuff, eh?

The social media team at New Nectar can tell you much more about Facebook and twitter marketing; as well as many more social media marketing strategies that may be a perfect fit for your business. Contact us today for a free consultation!