Trends In Using Social Media Marketing

To be successful, any internet marketing campaign should include Social media as a strategic tool. It’s easy, and it increases quality traffic to a company’s website, which is what an internet marketing campaign is all about. What’s more, it’s a cost-effective of incrementing brand-awareness: a conversation between a consumer and his friends has a huge impact on spreading the word, since human behavioral studies show that people value a friend’s opinion over other sources, however respectable those might be. Thus, one consumer’s recommendation to their friends may influence their behavior as much as a couple of hundred TV commercials!

Studies like those have influenced corporate behavior in favor of internet marketing through the increasingly popular social media websites, discarding snail mail and even email, which are becoming increasingly neglected ways of communication. Especially amongst younger people, social networks is where the conversations converge.

These young consumers who are active in social network are also free-spending, disposing of larger percentages of their income on consumer goods or services. Word-of-mouth through social networks can have a huge impact, whether positive or negative, on a company’s reputation. Occasionally in extreme cases, an Internet “buzz” can boost profits literally overnight if particularly influential sources or groups of people are affected.

Companies can also learn from their customers through social networks, getting feedback on existing products and researching preferred features and updates for future models. If they appear to take this consumer feedback seriously and reasonably, companies can promote users’ interest in products and boost return visitation to a website. Features that can increase website appeal include games for entertainment or free content like blogs or promotions. By capturing customers’ interest, the website pulls traffic, feedback, and conversations among consumers that draw other visitors’ attention and also give the company important information.

Begin an internet marketing campaign with research. For instance, you can learn a lot from online surveys about feedback and ways of improving a product. Visit competitors’ websites to see how they incorporate social media. In what ways do they tap into your customer base with social media tools? Think about the target communities within social networking. What do they want and need, and what do you have to offer them?

Thus research may lead to a marketing plan that will help your company with its online presence, and allow it to reach potential consumers within minutes of launching new products or product updates.

Then test the plan with different social communities and networks. You’ll see positive or negative results quickly and can then adapt your strategy to keep the best features and discard the less successful ones. Although there is no single or “bullet-proof” strategy, a carefully developed plan will help your company adapt to new ways of communication and can be a bulwark against increasingly rapid changes in marketing trends.

Justin Harrison is an internationally recognised Internet Marketing expert and entrepreneur who has built up multiple 7 figure online business and consults to some of leading online brands including Amazon, BBC, AIG and many others.