Social Media Marketing Overview

Social Media Marketing is one of the most effective and least expensive channels for online advertising and building a positive online reputation.

Businesses of all sizes, within all industries, can benefit from Social Media Marketing.

Many people believe Social Media Marketing (or Internet Marketing in general) is only good for companies that sell products. That’s just not the case.

A Social Media Strategy can have a tremendous impact on any company’s success. If your company is interested in any of the following, you must have a Social Media presence:

• Enhanced Business Development

• Reduced Advertising Costs

• Improved Marketing Efficiency

• Improved Real-Time Search Engine Placements

• Brand Development

• Buzz Creation

• Increased Website Traffic

• Reputation Management (Building a better reputation or repairing a bad one)

• Improved Thought Leadership Positioning within Your Industry

• Geo-Targeted Advertising Channel for Your Products and/or Services

Social Media Marketing Platforms

Even though there are numerous online opportunities for Social Media Marketing, we have found that a strategy that combines Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (what we call “the Big 3”) to be the best starting point for any individual or company.

Of course, there are many industry-specific sites, blogs, etc. for Social Media Marketing and those sites that must be explored and included within a more extensive Social Media Marketing Strategy.

Facebook Facts

Facebook.com is no longer just a “social” outlet for people under 21. Facebook is now a viable business networking platform and has some very impressive (and ever-changing) statistics:

• There are nearly 800 million active Facebook users around the world.

• 50% of active users log on to Facebook, daily.

• More than 5 billion pieces of content are shared each week.

• More than 1.5 million local businesses have pages on Facebook.

• Approximately 70% of Facebook users are outside of the U.S.

• The top 5 countries on Facebook: U.S., Indonesia, India, Turkey, U.K

Twitter Tidbits

Twitter is a marketing platform that allows your audience to interact with your brand which results in successful brand promotion. There are a lot of numbers that we could share about the world of Twitter but here are some interesting factoids that you may not have heard before:

• Number of Twitter Applications you could download – 100,000.

• Twitter has 5 new users signup every second.

• Lady Gaga was the first Twitter member to get 10,000,000 followers.

• Jack Dorsey was the first person to tweet (he’s the founder of Twitter).

• The average number of tweets per second:  750.

• If Twitter were a country, it would have the 12th largest population in the world . (Of course by the time you read this, it could be even larger!)

LinkedIn Info

Even though LinkedIn has a smaller user base, it is proving to be an invaluable social media site that is focused on connecting businesses and business people.

• LinkedIn has more than 120 million members worldwide.

• The highest number of monthly visitors come from U.S., U.K., India, Brazil, and the Netherlands.

• The states that have the most LinkedIn visitors: California, New York, Texas, Illinois, and Florida.

• Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are Linked members.

• LinkedIn attracts a more affluent audience than other social media sites.

• 70% of the users are 35 and older.

• 77% of LinkedIn users have a college or higher level of education.