Saturday, 23 August 2014

11 Reasons Why you Can't Ignore Social media and Digital Marketing anymore.


11 Reasons Why You Need to be Marketing With Digital and Social Media Platforms in 2014!

August 19th, 2014 Originally posted by  Author Kathleen PaulUncategorized 

Most of us in 2014 have come to the realization that social media and digital marketing, are no longer just handy extra marketing tools to make use of. Instead we realize that it is absolutely essential in today’s world of business.
With new websites like Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and Vine on the rise, we are seeing more and more valuable social channels with exponential growth and success among internet users. Which leads us to believe that social will not be going anywhere!
Whether you have already jumped on the social media for business train, or whether you’re still researching and trying to find the best agency or the best way to approach this new, trend filled and ever changing way of marketing. There are probably social networking channels where your customers are spending their time that you haven’t been taking full advantage of.
Recently we have taken the time to heavily research this topic, and the statistics we've found should be hard to ignore for most businesses. Here are some of the key reasons that show us why we need to be using social networking platforms, to market our businesses.

1. The ability to have your customers promote your product for you!

With social platforms like Instagram and Pinterest growing every year. You may have noticed the many product and food photos circulating these visual platforms. Before social, people were not typically photographing their favorite products and food because they weren't able to show it off publicly, like we are now.
These social platforms really allow your fans to promote your content, and product. With every re-tweet, Instagram photo, repin and Facebook share, your fans are promoting and letting their friends know how much they love you! This is a huge trend now on social media. We love sharing and talking about the things we love.

2. Measurement.

The measurement options are endless. You will be aware of every view, every click, every time someone likes your content etc. With traditional advertising there isn't very much you can be sure of, in terms of measurement. You can only make assumptions.
Any digital advertising/marketing allows you to really break down the type of content that has been successful. While also allowing you to test which content needs to be adjusted or improved upon. A social media professional can really help you capitalize on this effectively.

3. The ability to target your desired audience.

Whether we are talking about television commercials, billboard ads, print or radio. The only targeting options are through making predictions on who the viewers, readers or listeners are. With this being the case, it is extremely difficult to see an accurate return on investment.
When you set ads through digital platforms, you have full demographic, location and interest targeting options.

4. Cost.

The cost difference between traditional advertising and new media advertising are extreme.
National commercials produced by an advertising agency can cost a business an average of $342,000 for a 30-second spot. (2008 Sourced from the American Association of Advertising Agencies.) Compare this to advertising on YouTube, where more than 1 billion unique users go to look for video content each month, and where your efforts can be measured efficiently. The difference is astounding! Professional studio quality video production for the web is only a fraction of the cost.
Average cost-per-click (Avg. CPC)
The average amount that you've been charged for a click on your ad. Average CPC is calculated by dividing the total cost of your clicks by the total number of clicks.
  • For example, if your ad receives two clicks, one costing $0.20 and one costing $0.40, your average CPC for those clicks is $0.30.
  • Average CPC is based on your actual CPCs (the actual amount you’re charged for a click on your ad), which might be different than your maximum CPCs (the highest amount that you’re willing to pay for a click).
  • To see your average CPC amounts, look at the “Avg. CPC” column in one of the tables within your Campaigns tab.
Cost-per-view (CPV)
Cost-per-view (CPV) bidding is the default way to set the price you’ll pay for your AdWords video ads (when created with AdWords for video). While traditional display ads charge you for impressions, with CPV you pay only when a viewer watches your video.
With traditional online text ads or image ads, customers on the web may see your ad, read its text, and click your URL to go directly to your site. This type of interaction doesn't take interactive content like video ads into account. With CPV bidding, you won’t be charged for just an impression or a video interaction click on your ad.
With AdWords for video reporting, you’re able to evaluate how engaged viewers are with your content, where they choose to watch your videos, and when they drop off from watching your content.
Example
If you think it’s worth 25 cents to have someone watch your video, you can set US$0.25 as your max CPV. For an in-display True View video ad, you’ll pay a maximum of US$0.25 when users begin watching your video. For in-stream, you’ll pay the maximum CPV when the user watches 30 seconds or sees the end of the ad, whichever comes first. You pay nothing if they don’t initiate the video or drop off from the video before the minimum amount of time passes.
You can also set a lower bid for your in-display True View video ads than for your in-stream video ads.

5. Businesses that are using twitter average double the amount of leads per month.

Untitled
Image Sourced from Twitter

6. The ability to listen.

Social media is a place where people go to tell the world about the things that make them happy, excited or upset. This gives brands the ability to listen and truly understand the audience they’re marketing to.

7. Social media can give you the ability to gain trust.

In everyday life, the friends or people you’re spending the most time with, are going to feel a lot closer to you, than the old friends whom you never see anymore. This goes the same for businesses and social media. The brands that are communicating with their fans most, will have built trust, and will have gained a higher level of importance to the customer.
“85% of followers feel more connected with a small business after following them”– Sourced from Twitter

8. The ability to establish yourself as an expert in your niche.

When your brand is posting regularly, it can really give you the opportunity to show off your thoughts and expertise. People view others based on what they’re talking about. If you’re a great Realtor and you’re posting photos, video, and links about this topic. Others will be likely to think of you when they need a Realtor.

9. Build awareness and be found.

An active Youtube presence alone, can inspire a lot of interest around your brand. You will notice when searching for reviews or information on Google. The search results will often include a Youtube video, where a video exists. Therefore if a potential customer or client has been directed through to your Youtube content. This gives them the opportunity to find your website.

10. Easily shared and easy to talk about.

We are much more likely to share and talk about great content and information that we've found on social media than we are to talk about print or radio advertisements. On social media, content is extremely easy to share. Usually at the end of every blog or social media post, we are encouraged and reminded to share that piece of content.
How often do you hear a friend, family member or colleague mention a great billboard advertisement? It has to be pretty remarkable for someone not to just forget about it. On social media we see information and brand content being shared every day.

11. We communicate with brands on social media, because we want to! 

Traditional advertising has been described as “Disruptive”. On social media when your fans are communicating with you. It’s not because they are forced to, but because they actually want to.
A great video from 2010 discussing how businesses are using Social media... Original here.

Original article written by Kathleen Paul Via MMD Digital a Design, marketing, digital, social media marketing and video production firm. They are great! check out the author On Twitter @Katlauraann  

For any webdesign, digital or social media marketing needs contact Kathleen Paul at the above email and she will get you set up with the right people! Until then enjoy your week.
Original article http://bit.ly/mmdblog
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