Social_Media_Marketing

The territory of Social Media is expanding exponentially. As a result, the rules for promoting your business or organization have been re-written. Millions of people all over the world use social networking sites every day, making them part of their daily lives. Because social media networks traffic so much attention, they have become a powerful vehicle for advertisers to create interest and bring recognition to their brand. Social media sites consume nearly 25% of people’s time online. The number of people who are visiting social media sites has increased by 24% over the last year. In 2010 $716 million was spent on social media marketing and it is expected to reach 3.1 billion by 2014. At that point social media will more influential than email or mobile communication. Social Media Marketing is defined as the methodical use of marketing through social media as a means for building a business. There are several goals when striving to implement social media marketing. Establishing brand recognition is a common goal. Since the majority of the population is already visiting social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, getting your brand name all over those networks can help let people know that you’re around. For companies or organizations that are small or are just starting out this is an important implementation in marketing strategy. How else can you reach thousands of customers and prospects all over the world with practically zero advertising costs' 54% of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) were using social media to promote their businesses as of September 2010, double the number using these sites in December 2009. And it’s working for them: 60% credit social media with positively impacting their businesses, 46% said their company’s brand awareness has increased and 36% have attracted new business as a result of their social media efforts. LinkedIn is the most popular site, with 73% of small businesses using it, followed by Facebook at 64%, and Twitter, used by 63% of respondents. Using social media sites to create a fun online community that your customers will want to visit will boost brand loyalty and drive traffic to your Website, allowing you the chance to make more online sales. Along with establishing brand recognition, social media networks allow for the development of the relationship marketing strategy. People visit social media sites to get more personal. This allows businesses to creatively interact with their customers by asking their opinions and having them respond back. It’s no wonder why social media marketing has been such an increasingly successful mechanism in the implementation process since women show a greater tendency to engage in personal communication. Women are being recognized as the heads of households and in charge of making the financial decisions in the family thus implementing social media marketing (especially to target women) has proven to be a winning strategy for growth in sales. Successful companies listen to their users. Social media networks are an awesome way to see what a target audience is saying about a company and their products. They can take their constructive criticism and use it to enhance the product to better meet the needs of the customer. Speaking to the customers in a personal way will make them feel like they are talking to a friend, not a company. This will help build their trust the company, which will make them do business with them rather than their competition. It will also improve the chances of customer recommendations. Social media networks enable companies to respond to customers questions and concerns directly in a timely manner. This improves customer satisfaction and also saves the company money on long distance customer service phone calls. Through social media networks you can listen to what your customers say about your products and track what links they click on. You can see what your customers like and respond to. With the new-found information you can tweak your product or service to please them. Social media marketing also allows for the ability for you to keep an eye on the competition. You can follow your competitors through various sites to find out about special deals, contests or promotions. One study revealed 40% of Facebook users said their motivation for liking a brand there was “to receive discounts and promotions,” 36% said it was to get a freebie (sample, coupon, trial etc.), and 30% said it was to get updates on upcoming sales. There are a number of tools and features that allow businesses to be alerted of sales, promotions and discounts from competitors so that necessary adjustments can be made. One of the most popular services being offered through social media is voice/video calls and chatting over the internet through Skype. Skype is one of the fastest growing companies to date. It went from 0 to 50 million registered users in less than 2 years and with limited marketing resources. Skype is VOIP software that was introduced in August of 2003. Skype-to-Skype calls, video calls and instant messaging are free, any time of the day or night, anywhere in the world. Users may call landlines or mobile phones and send SMS messages at great value Pay As You Go rates, or call unlimited* to certain countries with a subscription. Skype’s rapid growth and market dominance are accredited to the quality of the product. The application is simple to use and free to download thus it appeals to people across all demographic borders. In 2004 the company sought to develop co-branding partnerships with foreign and non-Western markets. This gave the company access to millions of users who would have been out of reach otherwise for the small startup. In 2005 the company was purchased by eBay for $2.6 billion, providing Skype access to millions of their users through their different internet properties throughout the world. By 2006, 150,000 new users signed up for service daily, over 30 million people logged into their Skype accounts monthly and they had users from every country on the globe. The company has maintained market dominance by continually adding new features and introducing new products that are tailored for specific markets in technology and business. They dramatically changed their software for Windows and Mac OS. In 2009, Skype 4.0 was released, featuring full-screen high-quality video calling. An iPhone application was launched which topped the charts with over 1 million downloads in its first two days. The launch of their software for the android platform was also announced. Skype launched a service to target business users in April 2008 called Skype for SIP. Around 35 % of Skype's users were business users at that time. They also implemented a strategy to develop partnerships with TV broadcasters to integrate Skype into their programming. The Oprah Winfrey Show began using Skype regularly to host video calls between Oprah and her viewers at home, culminating in a show dedicated exclusively to the wonders of Skype ("where the Skype are You", aired first in May 2009). Skype also became commonly used by network news stations around the world, as a cost-effective replacement for sending satellite trucks, and enabling fast response from citizen journalists. Skype was also integrated into scripted TV programming, such as Californication; and in the seventh season of the U.S. syndicated version of the British game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire in a new Ask the Expert video chat lifeline. These efforts led to dramatically accelerating growth of Skype's Connected Users and Paying Users in 2008 and 2009. By 2009 Skype was adding about 380,000 new users each day and by 2010, it was estimated that Skype accounted for 25 % of the world's international calling minutes. On May 10 2011, Microsoft announced it had agreed to purchase Skype for $8.5 billion. This was Microsoft’s largest acquisition. All of the marketing tactics that Skype implemented were winning strategies. They maximized the number of people who could use their product by standardizing it and keeping a mass market focus. They maximized the value of the product by keeping their costs low and continually improving their software. They seeded the local market by acquiring the right partners and publicity. And they managed to build a product that would sell itself based on quality and it being a closed network. In the market of free internet phone calling, Skype’s the limit!