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Losing touch with customers is not something businesses are shooting for. On the contrary, we know that losing touch means losing altogether. This is why globally, 60 percent of organisations will be investing in social media marketing because they believe that they’ll risk losing touch if they don’t. Yes, according to the Community Engine Social Media Benchmarking Study with Nielsen, we now know the question is no longer if social media marketing should be implemented. The question is how to implement.

So, why would organisations feel at risk? Back in April, I wrote a post called The Paradigm Shift and showed some hard facts about who was online every week and how much time was being spent there. For those Australians that are 18-55, it was over 15 hours a week.  This cuts into television time, news time, and reading time because we can literally get everything we need from an online source.  Nearly every news channel, despite actually being on the television, has a presence on a social media site. The information is going out in all media ways. Print is down the most of all media forms and online is blowing everything out of the water.

Organisations definitely risk losing customers if they’re not participating in social media. There is an upside…for your competitor.  But just like the post I wrote yesterday, some of the same advantages of participating in social media apply in the same way allowing social participations on your site do.

• A major advantage for a customer is to be able to hop on your social media platform or a third party site, and get a questions answered immediately because you’ve got people managing. This isn’t to say that it’s going to be perfect and no question will go unanswered. If something slips through the cracks, apologise, and see what can be done to rectify the situation

• Another major advantage is watching what your customers are doing as well as your competitors. Business is fun and as long as there is no dirty competing, it’s perfectly natural to implement some similar practices if they’re working for other people. The ultimate goal is to know that if a customer or client needs you, that you’re easily accessible.

• Being online and reaching your customers there is one of the most inexpensive ways to market. It takes some time, but the interaction is in real-time. You’re no long a FAQ area or a flyer that gets thrown away.  Not to say other forms of marketing are dead because they’re not. This is just another reach and perhaps the most effective because we’ve done the research to show you where they are.

Marketing on social media platforms is more than just marketing, especially as you are developing critical relationships. For many individuals who are keen on being “sold,” it takes time to build relationships. Your diehard fans will be there to support you, but they can’ if you are not in their direct space.

Where is your company? What platforms are you utilising the most and which of those is most beneficial for you?

posted by Venessa in the category Reserach & Statistics ROI Social Media Social networking
Tags: 2010 Social Media Business Benchamarking Study, Community Engine, nielsen-community engine social media business benchmarking study, Social Media, Social networking, traditional marketing