COMMENTS
Concur 100% that small businesses are missing out by not blogging and tweeting. I think they are getting bad advice from agency types. Facebook fan pages are a dime a dozen and quickly becoming noise. Blogging and driving traffic to your unique site really set a business apart. It's an operational distinction that I believe manifests itself in other aspects of the business - most importantly the actual products and services. Thanks! Bret
Thanks for sharing. First of all - props to my alma mater for some good work and GO TERPS! against Houston on Friday night.
In the senior care marketing space, we use the combination of blogs and Facebook fan pages. Blogs work very well in this space to show thought leadership, while Facebook shows the personal side of the company and connects multiple generations.
We've done some research called the
Elder Care Industry Marketing Report that discusses this market. A good piece of the report talks to social media use and desires for senior care marketers. It is free for anyone to download. Enjoy.
Ryan
Use every tool at your disposal to communicate with your customers and the world - especially if the tools are free and effective.
It appears internet marketers are believing too much of our own sales pitches and disregarding reality.
This Wall Street Journal article addresses the fact that social media hype is not matched by reality: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703909804575123691040422082.html
While there are successes, social media still is not close to a serious revenue-producing marketing method for most businesses at this time.
we at netTALK need to get a blog up asap but we have actually received some major international distribution leads through FB
In the short time I've been blogging and experimenting with various social media platforms, I've been lucky to meet so many folks who are generous with their suggestions. No small business owner or nonprofit should move forward without adding this community to their marketing and PR mix.
I 100% agree. Businesses are reeling right now trying to figure the new marketing game. They Forgot to stay up on the ever changing market place and how consumers interact with companies. I think they'll find out again that facebook is limited to the type of business that you have. If you run a nightclub or something that relates to a social atmosphere then facebook would be great. If you have a different company, say you sell tires, it would be like a salesman interupting a conversation between friends. It's highly frowned apon from your average facebook user. Again missing the boat. Their time would be better spent on blogging and ranking the blog to create an authority stance that comes across as highly professional and insightful.
Luke,
I believe it's still too early to tell how how much revenue can be generated by social media sites. I've only had our FB and LinkedIn pages a little more than a month but I can see tons of opportunities. While every business may not see much benefit, the benefits are certainly there for the majority. As a landscape design firm specializing in outdoor living areas, this is like taking candy from a baby.
An interactive website for free.
You would have to be pretty low on the intelligence totem pole NOT to take advantage.
While waste your time. Just visit httt://ejosky.blogspot.com
Tactics, strategies whatever we call them, social media marketing and networking is sure creating a buzz,but whats also important is the company handling the social media activity & client they are handling. We see marketers often hype SMO beyond comparison as a lead generation tool and later fail to deliver upon which should not be created as Social media is to stay.
Let's not overlook the obvious -- -- the title of this blog post was brilliant and attention-getting, and a great use of LinkedIn to drive traffic to a blog. Congrats to Jeanne and HubSpot for showing how it can be done.
This is fascinating stuff! I think blogging is the best way for businesses because it establishes credibility and trust outside of the business. Meaning it's less "salesy" and more "community". Resulting in more business/clients/sales/whatnot...