Crystal Peterson is the Director of Channel Marketing for .CO Internet
At .CO, we believe in using social media for marketing and engaging with the community. But we also hear a lot of wild theories about its effectiveness and use. We’ve heard it’s the greatest thing since the Internet itself, or it’s a total failure. We did a little digging to try to sort fact from fiction.
Nobody over 25 understands social media—MYTH.
Mark Storey from the University of Maryland argues in NextGen Journal that it actually requires experience to be successful, “There is a BIG difference between posting Facebook Timeline updates and telling General Motors what to do with their own social media presence in the midst of a crisis.”
Twitter can be part of social media marketing—MAGIC.
Twitter rolled out an enhancement to its Promoted Tweets paid ad service that enables marketers to target a subset of consumers for better engagement. As with all Promoted Tweets, advertisers pay for targeted tweets only when users engage with them, and the tweets that generate the most engagement are likely to appear more often.
You can’t measure social media—MYTH.
According to a report in the New York Times, users are increasingly reading, sharing, and finding articles through social media channels rather than through search engines. In May of 2012, Facebook generated 61 million referrals to published digital content while Google search generated 58 million referrals.
Social media doesn’t operate under the same legal rules—MYTH.
Advertisers who make claims about their products on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest need to be mindful of the fine print they use, or forget to use, in their postings.
Traditional media techniques will work on social media—MAGIC, depending on your definition of traditional media techniques.
According to Forbes, “social works best when you use the classic definition of marketing: that it’s about relationships with customers and that markets are actually conversations.” They note advertisers can also use social media to create interest, awareness, and excitement among customers and prospects.
Social media gives you the opportunity to engage with your customers directly. Embracing the various social media channels and building a brand strategy around your presence will take you further than you think (branded link shortener on a .CO domain anyone?!) . Every Tweet, Facebook update and Pinterest pin has the opportunity to live beyond you. Create content that your community will find interesting and exciting; content that they will want to share! Great content paired with the advertising opportunities that a number of social media platforms offer can take your marketing and sales campaigns to the next level. The world of social media is moving fast – don’t get left behind!
Do you find social media sites like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn or others beneficial to your marketing strategy? Tweet @dotco and let us know.
