There’s been a lot of hype about social media over the past several years. And a lot of skepticism and debate amongst business owners regarding the merits of social media as it relates to driving revenue growth.
We hear the comments; “I don’t want to tweet about what I had for breakfast this morning”, or “Facebook is just for twenty something’s”.
So the question is whether social media is important for business development purposes. The answer is ….yes.
To understand why, business owners and executives must acknowledge that for most industries, the buying process has fundamentally changed.
According to Marketo and eConsultancy respectively, “ 93% of B2B buyers use search to begin the buying process, while 37% post questions on social networking sites when looking for suggestions”, and “nearly two-thirds of consumers (61%) use search engines to help them in their product research decisions leading up to purchase”.
Using online resources will only become more central to the way your prospects make decisions. Ask yourself this question; five years from now, will potential buyers be using online means to search for businesses, and for educating themselves about their available choices, more or less than they do now. The answer is obvious.
Effective use of social media is an integral element of any online marketing strategy because it increases visibility and reach, and impacts how your business is perceived. Social media has also become essential for search engine optimization – if you want to be found online, your chances are much greater if you are visible and active on social sites.
So yes, you must embrace online marketing if you want to remain competitive and grow your business over time. And social media is a critical component of any online marketing strategy.
Stop fighting it, pick your spots, and get committed to taking advantage of these readily available and powerful business development tools.
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