Exploring the
Benefits of Social Media
Sept 10/2010
By: Mike Manchakowski
A niche that we at RJ Systems have been looking into
recently is the company’s introduction into the world of social media. With
Facebook recently passing Google in Web usage time (users now spend 9.9% of
their online time on Facebook vs.9.6% on Google driven sites – story
here), it is evident that
there is no end in sight to the growth of the Web 2.0 revolution.
But what does this mean for businesses and their online marketing strategies? It
could mean a complete overhaul of their approaches to connecting with clients.
The age of bombarding customers with ads and deals is coming to an end, and is
being replaced with more personal, trust building strategies.
For example, a key social media marketing tool that is emerging is “inbound
marketing”. This involves providing useful information to prospective or current
customers in hopes that they begin to follow your new marketing campaigns.
For instance we at RJ Systems could provide a blog explaining useful hidden
features of different Microsoft Office tools. Providing a service like this
would benefit both RJ Systems and our clients in the following ways.
For the marketer:
·
Able to better inform readers of the types
of services they provide.
·
Builds consumer trust in the company –
demonstrates they are out to help their clients, not only to make money
·
Builds a following which strengthens brand
recognition
·
Direct communication with clients allows
for feedback on what is the most useful information
For the customers:
·
Free useful information to improve their
businesses
·
Provides a window into the culture and
intentions of a business
·
Provides a route to directly communicate
with businesses through commenting
With the growing use of social media, personal, informative
marketing strategies such as inbound marketing will allow companies to
earn their way into a
larger clientele rather than
begging their way in
through traditional “Buy me - Low Cost!” techniques. This is just a brief
introduction into the world of these types of marketing tactics, stay tuned for
more tips!
Mike Manchakowski