Social Media Marketing for Business

A few weeks ago Sensis released a detailed Yellow Social Media Report into the social media habits of Australian consumers and businesses.

While the report unearthed some interesting results, none were really surprising – the figures essentially confirmed that for many Australians using social media is much as part of the daily routine as brushing their teeth (which many do before checking Facebook at the end of the day)

Some quick stats:

• 84% of Australians access the internet every day
• 62% of Australian internet users use social networking sites, with 36% of them using social media at least once every day
• 97% of social network users use Facebook
• 79% large businesses has a social media presence

These percentages will continue to climb, and with them the need for brands to have a sound social media strategy. While many businesses have a Facebook, Twitter and maybe even a Google+ page, just being in the space because everyone else is isn’t good enough.

Social media should be approached like any other business venture: with a clear outline of goals, competitor and risk analysis, resource allocation and projected timelines.

Does your business want to increase its brand awareness in a certain demographic? Do you want to run competitions? Sell products? Increase your membership base? Which department will be responsible for social media? Whatever your ultimate goals, these should be decided before posting your first status update.

Some ground rules to keep in mind: social media is a conversation. Make sure the voice you use when dealing with your customers matches your brand. For example, if you’re working for Mini-Cooper you don’t necessarily want to sound like someone from Rolls Royce. Engage with consumers in a human voice – don’t blast them with marketing-speak.

Measurement: there is a range of extremely useful (and often free) measurement tools that can help you measure the reach of your social media footprint. Google recently added social reports to Google Analytics, allowing users to measure ROI on social campaigns, while Facebook Insights has valuable demographic data and sites like SocialOomph can show you how far your tweets are reaching.

Whatever you’re looking to achieve, make sure you’ve set these out before jumping on board.

Once that is set, it’s time to join the conversation.

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Need help with your social media strategy? Book one of SMK’s two day Social Media Masterclasses, running through July and August in Australia and NZ.

For more information click here.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by SMK.net.au/training