Every so often we come across a client who refuses to acknowledge the positive effects the Internet would have on their business and think it is completely irrelevant to them. This is particularly the case with regards to social media.
“Oh my client base doesn’t use Facebook or Twitter” or “Our business isn’t aimed at kids. They are the only ones who use Facebook and Twitter. Our customers prefer the traditional methods of marketing”.
Can you believe that?
It is so frustrating for us as we can see their business struggling and we want to help them so much but there is not a lot we can do when they point blank refuse to reach out to a larger audience online using the Internet.
For anybody else who doubts the power of online marketing using social media platforms, here are some hard facts and figures that will make your head spin. The numbers are staggering and it shows the global impact that social media marketing is having on all aspect of business and personal life.
There are now over 1.15 billion Facebook users. People have been saying that Facebook has peaked but that figure is a 21% increase in just 12 months. Facebook is still the most popular platform and is now part of every day life.
Google+
We have talked a lot about Google+ recently. It has become the second biggest network during the last 6 months and continues to grow at a fast pace. It is finally reaching a point where Internet users are starting to become aware of it and are curious about how to use it.
Google+ now features in thousands of retweets, shares and traffic on the internet every day, which is a good indicator of how popular it is and why it shouldn’t be ignored.
Recent stats recorded on ExpandedRamblings.com reveal that Google+ has 343 million ACTIVE monthly users.
At the time of writing, Twitter is preparing to be floated on the stock market. Who would have predicted that when it first appeared?
Twitter is every bit as much a part of everyday life as Facebook and Google are. Almost every television program is using Twitter to obtain feedback and comments. News reports follow and report events based on Twitter comments. Everybody from movie starts to politicians use it to full effect to attract millions of followers and admirers. They know that it is a perfect marketing tool.
The concept is so easy and its power stems from that simplicity because it offers real time feed and news breaking capabilities.
According to a MediaBistro.com, the figure released in August 2013 show that Twitter has over 500 million users (35 million of those are in China alone).
Over 170 billion tweets have been sent, which averages out at about 400 million tweets PER DAY.
These are truly mind-blowing figures.
Facebook and Twitter are the platforms that create the most noise but LinkedIn, which is one of the older social networks, has been quietly working on making its platform more social over recent years and should not be ignored. In fact as a business this is the platform you should definitely be exploring to reach clients and contacts within your industry.
Again, the most recent figures reported by ExpandedRamblings.com reveal that LinkedIn has now exceeded 238 million users.
YouTube
YouTube is the world’s most popular online destination for video sharing and creation and is absolutely fantastic as a marketing tool.
After revealing that every single one of the Ad Age top 100 brands had run advertising campaigns on YouTube, the social media giant recently reported this statement on its very own blog:
“….And today, we’re announcing a new milestone: YouTube now has more than a billion unique users every single month.”
The words ‘one billion users’ just rolls off the tongue and is too big to comprehend, but to put things in perspective and to show how enormous this figure is, the blog continues:
“What does a billion people tuning into YouTube look like?
- Nearly one out of every two people on the Internet visits YouTube.
- Our monthly viewership is the equivalent of roughly ten Super Bowl audiences.
- If YouTube were a country, we’d be the third largest in the world after China and India.”
There was a lot of excitement when Facebook first bought this fun and quirky image app company for $1billion. It hit headline news all around the world.
A lot of analysts thought that Facebook had more money than sense but it turns out to be a wise investment as it has helped Facebook move into mobile advertising and continues to grow every month.
From its launch in 2010, Nitrogr.am reports that there are over 150 million active users and over 16 billion photos have been shared (an average of 55 million photos every day).
Instagram is a great social media tool that will help your business to engage with your customers, build relationships and increase your sales.
Pinterest very quickly captured the public's imagination soon after it was first launched.
The online “pinboard” social media platform has had a huge impact on how we use the Internet, even influencing the new Google+ design.
We have written about Pinterest before in previous articles but will be returning with another article very soon to show you just how powerful a marketing tool this is for your business.
To convince you of the popularity and influence of Pinterest, here are some facts and figures which again come from ExpandedRamblings.com:
There are currently 70 million users and Pinterest receives 2.5 billion page views EVERY MONTH. The average shopper on Pinterest spends between $140 – $180 on products.
Tumblr
Tumblr is another company that was bought by an Internet Giant, this time Yahoo. The purchase was greeted with a lot of consternation especially from the Tumblr community whose audience are typically young and tech savvy.
Despite reports that the Tumblr users are deserting the site, Quantcast still report that it has 245 million unique visitors every month.
Foursquare
Despite being one of the oldest social sites (it was launched in 2009) it is one of the less mentioned platforms.
However you should not underestimate it, as it is particularly useful for bricks and mortar business giving them a stronger online presence. It is a perfect way to build a strong relationship with your customers by rewarding them with special offers and other benefits.
The number of users is around 30 million. Again, watch out for our future article, which shows you how to use this excellent business tool.
Why Your Business Needs Social Media Marketing
As you can see, rather than being something to ignore, social media marketing has become an indispensable tool to build relationships, engage with your customers and increase sales like never before.
The success in social media marketing comes from building strong and long-lasting relationships with your customers over months and years. You do this by providing them with the type of content and expertise that they will want to share with their friends, colleagues and family.
This approach will help to attract and keep loyal customers and is an approach worlds away from most traditional forms of advertising and marketing.
As the Internet evolves, so does social media. It is an ever-growing, ever-changing sector and as a result it is daunting for many businesses.
This is where we can help. We can help you with your social media campaigns while you concentrate doing what you do best, and that is running your own business.
If you had no idea how big social media marketing was until you read this article, or you have struggled running your own successful campaigns in the past, please give us a call and let us show you how we can significantly increase your profits.
