Marketing strategies have gone through dramatic changes in the last 10 years, and especially in the last few alone. The rising influence of Internet advertising changed the face of marketing forever, unseating television and newspapers as the primary outlets for spending on customer acquisition.
Internet advertising created a new approach to selling goods and services. In the beginning, there were websites – and they were good. A great deal of effort went into bringing the client to your site where they would either make a purchase or call into your office and hire your company.
The old methods were not unlike the sales tactics employed by a good used car salesman. Get ‘em in, then keep talking and pushing until your potential client made a purchase. However, that approach will make today’s customers shy away.
In the last few years, social media changed Internet marketing all over again. People’s own surfing habits made it obvious that advertising dollars were best spent where the most client eyes could be found, and those people were all surfing Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Social Media uses the same approach to sales that Amazon discovered. With so much Internet at our fingertips, researching any product on the web can be a frustrating exercise. There are sometimes thousands of conflicting articles, reviews, and recommendations available regarding the desired product, but it can take time to find and read the reviews that are trustworthy and fitting.
However, Amazon realized that people who want to buy a book or a movie will look for advice from their friends and family first. To harness that influence, Amazon made it easy for your friends and family to leave their own reviews directly below the product in question.
Social media’s advertising influence is built on that very same concept. People stop by Facebook and Twitter several times a day to check in with friends and family. Instead of picking up the phone as asking your brother-in-law, who has the same taste in funky independent movies, what he saw last and how he liked it – just post the same question on Facebook.
“Did anyone see… and how did you like…?” or “What movie would you recommend for this Saturday night?”
Social media marketing also puts your product or service in front of the people who are most likely to buy it. Your company’s Facebook ad will not pop up in front of people across the country. The better approach is to pop up your advertisement in front of the people who are A) close to your store, and B) most likely to buy it.
Internet marketing started by luring people to a website and beating them over the head with sales clichés until they made a purchase out of self-defense. Today, people who need a widget will “accidentally” stumble onto an ad for your company’s widgets while discussing their widget needs with the people whose opinion and advice they value most.
That is the true power of social media marketing. It’s one-stop shopping where people can begin by asking questions about a product, progress through peer reviews about that product, and end up with “conveniently placed” advertising that also provides one-click ordering and two-day shipping. For free.
If you’re ready to start your own Social Media campaign, contact the GreenCup Digital team to discuss the best options for getting your message to the masses.
