Mike Andrew Consulting

Social Media Marketing – Mine’s Better Than Yours

By mike, Oct 04 in blog with 0 comments

Social media adoption by marketers and major web retailers in the US is definitely on the increase according to research conducted by the e-tailing group. During the months of August and September, more than 75% of those retailers surveyed said they were accelerating their use of and commitment too social media. Over 50% of the marketers surveyed use 5 out of the 10 major social media sites in their daily marketing activities, with Facebook pages being the most popular, followed by Twitter and customer review sites, including forums and blogs.

Overwhelmingly the main concern for retailers was their own lack of competence at using social media. and losing control of their brand.

The research also revealed an interesting trend, concern from the marketers and retailers about the quality and content of their social media efforts and fears that consumers would leave their sites for competitors with more socially engaging sites.

Using social media might be a little scary for these marketers but avoiding it is really no option.

The primary reason for using social media by small business was to increase customer engagement, boosting brand loyalty and creating word of mouth buzz amongst current customers.

Those retailers that responded to the survey felt that customer reviews were the best community tools for driving engagement and increasing sales.

For a small business owner and their staff, the biggest stumbling block to engaging and working social media networks, is understanding how to use it correctly.

I believe the feeling is it’s better to avoid using it than to make a mistake and affect the brand.

Here’s more information on social media strategy for small business

Mike Andrew owns and operates an Internet Marketing Consultancy on the Gold Coast in Queensland

About the author

Mike Andrew has been working with the Internet and small business for over 12 years. Mike has been a keynote speaker at conventions and seminars and conducted social media training sessions all over the world. Mike has an extensive media background having worked in electronic media for over 30 years. Mike specialises in social media and Internet marketing strategy, SEO techniques and search engine marketing campaigns. His articles appear on numerous blogs around the web as well as national magazines.