As a business owner or decision maker, you will have heard the term ‘Social Media’. You may have completely grasped its value by now. You may have dabbled with Facebook or Twitter or you may have written it all off as a fad.
Facebook now has 800 million users worldwide. In South Africa the number is approaching 5 million and has grown by over 600 000 in the last 6 months. There are 4600 new Twitter accounts created every day and 35 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Other platforms like Linkedin, Flickr and Pinterest are also experiencing phenomenal growth. True – the majority of these accounts are for personal use, but their potential as an advertising tool can no longer be ignored.
At this point you may be feeling a little overwhelmed – fear not – it is never too late to learn a few new tricks. In this series of articles we will look at:
- what Social Media is,
- how to set up and use them,
- how they compliment one another, and
- how to use them as part of your total onslaught.
So how do the Social Media platforms fit into your marketing strategy?
Before you can answer this – what is your marketing strategy – do you have one? It has been said that advertising and promotion without marketing is like winking in the dark. Is your advertising material an extension of your marketing strategy or are you winking in the dark? Advertising should be seen as an investment on which you want an acceptable return and not merely an expense. Advertising without a marketing strategy is probably the biggest cause for the failure of advertising campaigns and the perception that it simply doesn’t work.
In the next article we will be looking at the basic elements of a marketing strategy. In the meantime start thinking about:
- who your target market is?,
- what are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?,
- what is your product/service?,
- where would you like to position your company?,
- how do you use price in your marketing strategy?,
- how do you promote your company?
Until next time…
