Social Media Marketing seems to be the latest buzzword for anyone looking to increase their online presence and sales, but is Social Media Marketing (SMM) all it seems to be?

SMM companies are now popping up all over the place these days and they are telling anyone who will listen how incredibly important social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are to their business but, for the average small and medium business, it does social media marketing. Do networks really live up to all the hype? Is it really worth spending a small fortune to hire an SMM company? And has anyone really researched this before hiring someone to set up a Facebook business page? Some SMM companies are setting up things like Facebook business pages (which are free) for $600 to $1,000 or more and telling their customers they don’t need a website because Facebook is the biggest social network in the world and everyone has a Facebook account. Now, while it may be true that Facebook is the world’s largest social network and yes, Facebook members are potential consumers, the real question is whether they are actually buying. Social media marketing companies are very happy to point out the positive aspects of social media like how many people use Facebook or how many tweets were sent last year and how many people watch YouTube videos etc. But are you getting the full picture? I once sat next to an SMM “expert” at a business seminar talking to anyone within earshot about the amazing benefits of setting up a Facebook business page for small businesses (with him, of course) and sell on Facebook. So, intrigued by the aforementioned “expert” advice, I looked him up on Facebook and found he only had 11 Facebook friends (not a good start). So, being the research nut that I am, I decided to take a hard look at SMM in regards to selling to see if it really worked, who it worked for, and if it did, why did Social Media Marketing work for them? And should businesses rely so heavily on social media for sales?

As a web developer, I was constantly (and now increasingly) faced with various social media challenges when potential clients said that having a website sounds good, but they had a Facebook business page and various sources (the ever-present but anonymous ones). they told me. them”) that social media was the thing to do, but after discussing their needs it became pretty clear that those potential customers didn’t really know why they needed social media or SMM to generate online sales, they just wanted it. small and medium businesses always recommended building a quality website on top of any kind of social media, why? Well actually it’s simple because social media is Social The media and social networks are Social networks that are No business media and business networks (which would be more like LinkedIn). I know it sounds simple, but it’s true and the statistics back it up. The fact is that social media marketing doesn’t tell you that Facebook is a social network, not a search engine, and even though the number of users on Facebook and Google is about the same, people don’t use Facebook the same way. the same way they use a search engine like Google (which has about half of the search engine market), Yahoo and Bing to search for businesses or products. They use it to stay in touch with family and friends or for news and entertainment. In a recent study by the IBM Institute for Business Value, about 55% of all social media users said they don’t engage with brands through social media, and only about 23% actually use social media to purpose to interact with brands. Now, of all the people who use social networks and who interact with brands, whether on purpose or not, the majority (66%) say that they need to feel that a company is communicating honestly before they interact.

So how do you use social media marketing? And is it worth doing?

Well first of all I would say that having a well optimized website will still bring you a lot more business than social media in most cases, especially if you are a small or medium local business because a lot more people will type in “hairdresser”. Port Macquarie” on a search engine like Google, Yahoo and Bing than ever on any social networking site and if you don’t have a website you are missing out on all that potential business. Yet despite all the statistics (not so good), I still think it’s still a good idea for companies to use social media, but not in the same way that many SMM professionals do today. Why? Because it’s clearly not working the way that they say it does.Basically SMM Companies and Business as a whole saw social networks like Facebook as a new market and ready to be picked and when Facebook started having users measured in the millions PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested US $500,000 for 7% of the company (in June 2004) and since then some venture capital firms have made investments in Facebook and in October 2007 Microsoft announced that it had bought a 1.6% stake of Facebook for 240 million dollars. However, from Facebook’s humble beginnings to now (2012), both SMMs and businesses have failed to truly capitalize on the sheer number of Facebook users online. The truth is that numbers do not equal buyers. Is it in the best interest of a Social Media Marketing company to talk about social networks? Absolutely. Is it in a Social Network like Facebook the best thing for people to believe that companies can sell en masse by advertising and marketing with them? Of course it is. In early 2012, Facebook revealed that its profits had jumped 65% to $1 billion in the previous year, as its revenue, which comes primarily from advertising, rose nearly 90% to $3.71 billion, so clearly the concept of SMM is working for them, but is exercising for you? Well…not statistically, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it never will.

I think the main difference between social media and search engines is the intent. People using Google are deliberately looking for something, so if they’re looking for hairdressers, that’s what they’re looking for at that particular moment. With something like Facebook, the main intention is usually to connect with friends and family. In October 2008, Mark Zuckerberg himself said, “I don’t think social media can be monetized in the same way that search (search engines) did… Three years from now we have to figure out what the optimal model is.” But that’s not our main focus today.” One of the biggest problems businesses face with social media and SMM is perception. According to the IBM Institute for Business Value study, there were “significant gaps between what companies believe consumers care about and what consumers say they want from their social media interactions with companies.” For example, in today’s society, people won’t just give you recommendations, Facebook likes, comments, or details without getting something in return, so the old adage “what’s in it for me?” comes into play. So the main reason most people give for interacting with brands or businesses on social media is to receive discounts, however brands and businesses themselves think that the main reason people interact with them in social networks is to learn about new products. For brands and businesses that receive discounts, it only ranks 12th on their list of reasons people engage with them. Most businesses believe that social media will increase promotion, but only 38% of consumers agree.

Companies need to find more innovative ways to connect with social networks if they want to see any kind of results. There were some good initiatives shown in the IBM study of companies that had gained some control over how they use social media to their advantage, considering that when asked what they do when they interact with companies or brands through social networks, consumers list “get discounts or coupons” and “buy products and services” as the top two activities, respectively, an American ice cream company called Cold Stone Creamery offered discounts on its products on its Facebook page. As an alternative, there’s a great program launched by Best Buys in the US called Twelpforce where employees can answer customer questions via Twitter. With both Cold Stone Creamery and Twelpforce, the profit is clearly in the prospect’s favor and the great trick to social media marketing is to sell without trying to sell (or look like you’re selling). Unfortunately, most social media marketing is targeted the wrong way. .

Building a tangible buyer-to-consumer relationship through social media isn’t easy and is probably the biggest benefit for businesses that use social media to boost their websites in Google rankings. But businesses need to understand that you can’t just set up a Facebook business page and hope for the best. SMM takes effort and potential customers need to see the value of what you have to offer through your social media efforts. Offer them something worth their social interaction and time, and then you can get better results.

Now, as a footnote, Facebook stock is down to less than $20 a share, that’s half its original price…and lawsuits are flying.