What is Social Media Marketing
What is Social Media?
Social media refers to online sites and applications which allow users to share content online. Typically users create personal profiles and form connections with other users. These connections can either be informal, for example exchanging blog links, or more structured such as becoming ‘friends’ through a social network.
Social media sites have seen an explosion in popularity in the last few years and are now amongst the most popular sites on the web. Many companies are using social media services to promote their businesses and form stronger bonds with their customers.
Types of Social Media
Social Media is an umbrella term, referring to a wide range of different services:
Blogging. Blogs are online journals where users create frequent articles or ‘posts’ which are displayed in a chronological order and invite comments. Blogs can either be frivolous, for example a teenager’s online diary, or more serious such as a CEO’s blog.
Social networks. Sites like Facebook and MySpace allow users to post profiles and then connect with other users (becoming virtual ‘friends’) and share content. These sites are quickly becoming central of many people’s lives, both on and offline.
Social bookmarking. Sites such as Delicious and Digg allow users to bookmark web pages and then share these with other users.
Rich Media share. Sites such as YouTube allow users to upload rich media (e.g. video or audio) and share this with other users.
Forums. Forums have been around for years, but should not be ignored as a place to interact with customers.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing refers to the process of using social media services to promote a business and enable it to connect with its customers, employees and other stakeholders. Social media services present a great opportunity for businesses to market their products and services in a cost effective and fun way.
Creating a company blog, for example, allows a business to publish frequent updates and get instant customer feedback. They can also help to give a business a more human face. Some businesses have launched hugely successful profiles on social networks. Top Shop, the leading fashion chain, obtains 5% of its website traffic from its MySpace profile.
Increasingly, people are using social media to communicate with their contacts and plan out their lives and in order to remain relevant, businesses must get involved.
