Are You Feeling Social Yet? Any Good Internet Marketing Strategy Has a Social Piece!

So I posted over the weekend all proud of myself that I passed my #Inbound Marketing Certification with HubSpot. I was super excited and now, because I passed with flying colors and I’m worn out from all my studying about internet marketing, content development, blogging, using social media for business, how to create great landing pages, email marketing and market segmentation (just to name a few things) I am going to unabashedly steal (all credit given) some of the data that my HubSpot Professor Rachel Goodman provided in the Social Media piece of things.

Rachel answered the “why is social media important” question beautifully, and the numbers are compelling. We've been working with clients for quite a long time on aspects of integrating social media into their internet marketing strategy, but some of the numbers still suprised me and made me smile a little.

Here is some of what you have to know about social media for your business.

Why is social media important? Here are a few things you might not know:

The number of worldwide users on Social Media is growing exponentially. Check this out:

So, it appears that what some folks once thought was just a trend that would die away is here to stay!

Internet users spend 4x more time on Facebook than Google.

You might be thinking that Facebook is still the arena of personal interactions and messages about what someone is having for dinner, but it is so much more than that. Work with me for a few minutes here and see if some of these facts help you answer the question why is social media important for your business.

So what is the goal of Social Media?

Simple…to get more traffic. Businesses who use their social media well gain more traffic to their sites.

Why does that matter? Well, it’s a numbers game. More traffic = more leads! Don’t believe me? You might be surprised to learn that companies who use Twitter average 200% more leads than those who don’t use Twitter. What? 200%? That’s what Rachel said and she has the data studies to show!

Not only that, but as you already know, leads turn into customers. Did you know that 65% of B2B (business to business) companies say that they have acquired a customer through LinkedIn? We just had this experience, where a potential customer connected with us through LinkedIn and wants to meet about how to move forward. And it isn’t just B2B or LinkedIn. Each social media outlet has its own flavor and attitude depending on your business. You see the LinkedIn stat below, but you can also see that Facebook has made an impact on 77% of B2C (business to consumer) companies.

 So how do you know what social media oulet to use for your business? Each social media platform has its own personality, so to speak. Since demands for your time and resources is high, you should choose the one that best matches your business or customer personalities.

The Personalities of the Big 4

Twitter is the "Buzz Generator"

• Great for sharing content to reach a lot of people
• Need less rapport to establish connection
• Not great for long-form content

Facebook is “The Humanizer”

• Allows the business to have a “face”
• Let’s you show you care as a company
• Top-visited social media site in 126 of the 137 countries studied

So you need to have a Facebook strategy that involves having a business page for Facebook and posting content out there that is relevant to your customers and potential customers. Need help with setting this up? Check out our free Facebook Guide for Business.

LinkedIn is the “Professional” site:

• More formal; users generally have fewer connections.
• Share industry and business-focused content—reserved for business-focused conversations

Google+ is the Search Optimizer

• Less users but Google values the content highly
• Great for local search optimization

Knowing the personalities of the social media site allows you to tailor your content to fit that audience. That’s a subject worthy of another blog so we’ll leave it there. Why is social media important? For today I just really wanted you to understand that social media engagement isn’t an option anymore if you want to grow your business. It's an important piece of your internet marketing strategy and is here to stay.