There are many conflicting reports about growing your business using social media. Some will say that you can’t expect to make money with social media, and that you should only hope to increase brand recognition. Others will say you might expect to make money, perhaps if you commit some of your marketing budget to ads on sites like Facebook. Some recent reports are confirming that you can, in fact, grow your small business and make money using social media sites.
In March 2012, the Altimeter Group released a report called The Rise of Digital Influence, which claims to be “a ‘how two’ guide for businesses to spark desirable effects and outcomes through social media influence.”
One section of the report talks about the ripple effect and how word of mouth becomes influence: “Resonance is a result of reach and relevance and determines how long something stays alive in the stream before attention dissipates. This is important because social media is a noisy world, and without resonance, conversations evaporate quickly. As the activity that results from influence campaigns is not only measurable, it reveals elements of resonance that can be optimized. In order to measure outcomes as a brand, they must first be designed into the strategy and accounted for in the supporting metrics. What we learn here is that influence isn’t inherent in an absolute score; it’s measured through actions and words. Brands that get it will design, pilot, learn and repeat.”
In other words, as we have stated before, although many businesses are looking for ad campaigns that have immediate results and increased sales, in social media, slow and steady wins the race.
Market Force recently surveyed 12,000people in the US and UK, ranging in age from 18 to 65 years old (75% ofrespondents were women). They found that 81% of US consumers areinfluenced by their friends’ posts on social media sites. They alsofound that 78% admitted to being influenced by the companies they followon social media, which suggests that well-crafted posts can drive salesto a business.
The report also showed that 79% followed businesses in order to have access to discounts and other incentives; 70% were interested in details on sales and events; and 28% simply enjoy sharing their favorite things with friends. Keep in mind that these statistics are somewhat industry-specific. Consumers followed restaurants 86% of the time and retail businesses 75% of the time; however, only 13%followed companies in the Financial Services industry.
Have you determined which posts help drive traffic to your business? Tell us about your favorite social media “ad campaigns.”
