Why use social media?

Why use social media?

Social media is everywhere. Whether it is Facebook or Twitter, these buzz words are now commonplace. It’s not just students and youngsters that use social media, business owners, journalists, academics, sports teams, the press and everyone else use social media. Even if you have used Skype or MSN Live this is social media.

What’s the big deal about social media?

In today’s world, people want to feel a sense of belonging. We all want to belong and offer a sense of contribution. Before social media our news was dictated by governments and the media. But now, with the power of social media you can write your own content. Social media makes communication more personal and more exciting. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter give us more control and allow us to voice our opinion. Never before has there been so much user interaction.

5 great reasons to use social media

1. A great opportunity to network - Social media and especially Twitter gives you the opportunity to network and forge good strong relationships with potential customers. You can create rapport and engage in conversation. The beauty of social media is you can speak to others that are interested in your niche.
2. Engage in conversation and help others interested in your niche – People buy from those they trust. Strive to build a good relationship and educate your niche. Once you are seen as an expert in your field it will be easy to sell products, services, courses or messages to your niche.  People also buy from people that they like.
3. Advertising with social media doesn’t cost anything – Social media can be used as a cost effective method of advertising. I’ve used focused on SEO and PPC heavily before and one thing they both lack is the user-interaction. Social media interaction can provide quality leads and word of mouth. Paid advertising such as Google Adwords doesn’t have the personal interaction approach that many customers yearn for. PPC can be difficult and expensive to do well with.
4. People want to interact with an individual and not with a corporate brand – Show people in the social media the real you. Use photos on your Twitter profile, upload videos that show you on your blog or website and let your followers know you. People want to relate to someone. They want to see and know who they are communicating too. Give the user that opportunity and this will help to build your relationships online.
5. Focus on quality content for your target audience – Social media must be used as part of your marketing strategy. If you have excellent content to promote to your followers. People are using mainstream social media methods for distributing content. Create a successful following and your followers will promote your content and you.

Focus on developing great content and use social media to promote your target audience. In order to be successful you must focus on networking.

Has anyone had any great success from social media? How do you use social media? Do you think social media is here to stay? Please comment below.