Social Media Marketing: Can It Really Improve My Bottom Line?

 Yesterday, I was fortunate to truly have a long conversation with a good friend from senior high school that I haven't seen or spoken with in lots of years. And yes I'm sure it comes as no real surprise that we reconnected with a social network; in cases like this it had been the Professional Social Network, LinkedIn. He was reading a number of my blog posts that I share on my LinkedIn page and realized there could be opportunities for all of us to help one another. Our conversation took place over the telephone, and after reliving the glory days, our conversation turned towards social media marketing marketing Sydney Brooke Simpson. As an advertising agency founder and CEO, he understands the fundamentals of how social media marketing works, however was incapable of comprehend how his clients could benefit financially from creating a cultural media presence. In reality his comment was, "I understand that you could build a following on social networks, but I'm not convinced, or sure it can add revenue or profit for my clients" ;.To be honest, I was a little surprised with the statement. Although I've heard the same comment about social media marketing from prospective clients each day since social media marketing has become relevant and mainstream, I didn't realize that marketing agents that primarily use traditional media felt the same way.

It's funny, when you ask a small company owner who doesn't believe social media marketing will continue to work for them... What's probably the most cost-effective method to generate new business? A majority of them can tell you word-of-mouth advertising. Well, today, social media marketing is the equivalent to word-of-mouth advertising on steroids!

So, How Can Social Media Add Value To My Bottom Line?

First and foremost, any business looking to create a social media marketing presence will need a strategy or even a plan. Understand that to be successful; it takes a commitment of resources to guide most of the activities on a continuous basis. If you're incapable of allocate the proper resources, then hire an expert social media marketing consultant to create a strategy, policy, and assist in managing the plan. In reality, before we partner with a consumer on a cultural media project, we always perform an evaluation to determine the company's degree of readiness in marketing their business using social media.

Keep It Relevant And Share What You Know

By focusing your efforts on that which you know best, your passion will shine through and engage others. This can create more value for the followers and bring them back more often. Provide interesting and useful information, and share your individual ideas and perspectives that'll enlighten and inspire others. Your personal "brand" and your association together with your company are caused by that which you share and how you share it. Always add more value than you extract. At Monster.com, they follow the 80-20 rule, this means 80% of the conversation should be about anything other than me or my brand, and 20% is all about me or my brand. Remember, it's about your audience. So, solicit topics from your own audience and keep them engaged in the conversation. This can assist in expanding your brand and bringing their friends and/or followers along side them. Invite your customers and members of your team to participate. Inviting others to contribute enables you to have meaningful dialogue. If those who are enthusiastic about your subject matter have a chance to take part, they begin taking ownership and give even more. Remember, social media marketing is just a two-way conversation.

Stop Marketing And Start Engaging

Meet your objectives by not selling. One of the more compelling reasons companies fail is really because they utilize the platform to test selling instead of making value first. For consumers, here is the single biggest turn-off with businesses using social media. Begin by engaging your audience with conversation and by offering value to your followers. Once this really is accomplished, they'll begin requesting information and wanting to utilize your products and services that you recommend. If you deliver value, you'll start seeing your Twitter followers and Facebook fans become customers.

In closing, I strongly believe it must be a built-in part of most companies' marketing portfolio. It should complement other marketing efforts including, industry events, press releases, blogs, your website, and many others. In the long run, if created and managed properly it can and will drive positive results to your bottom line.