The Top 10 Reasons Why Every Company Should Be Using Social Media

The question still remains, is it appropriate for a smaller business? It may be great that JetBlue is using Twitter for customer service, or that Coca Cola is using Facebook as a platform for software development called widgets. But what about the 20+ million companies in America that have no payroll? How about the companies that have employees, but no significant marketing budget? Is social media appropriate for them?

The answer is yes. Social media is a new marketing fundamental that encompasses strategies that no company should operate without. There are tremendous opportunities for every business that has the knowledge and desire to use social media as a competitive advantage. Below is a list of the ten reasons why social media is a marketing necessity for ALL companies – from solopreneurs all the way through to Fortune 500 companies.

1. Getting Ranked High In Google Is A “No Brainer” For Your Business

People don’t surf the net, they search. 40% of all consumer spending and 85% of all B2B transactions begin today with a web search. Every business needs to come up within search engine rankings for those keywords that surround what it is that you do or offer as a company. If you don’t, then your competition will. According to Compete.com, Google alone hosts more than 235 million searches a day. This is a marketing opportunity that your company cannot afford to miss, and social media is your number one tool for getting ranked.

2. Marketing Exposure For Little To No Budget

Most people and companies share two extremely precious treasures, their money and their time. In this economy, most companies feel that placing more money behind marketing is no longer an option. Thus, ideas that can be implemented with the appropriate know-how and simple elbow grease are openly welcomed. This is the case for social media and why it is such a hot topic. Tremendous new marketing opportunities are unfolding daily for every business through the use of social media. And all they require is an understanding of the new online tools and how to get started.

3. You Never Know Who Could Help You Most

The traditional school of thought is to highly target your marketing efforts. That made sense in a world of paid marketing, where every reader, listener or viewer cost you money. However, in the world of social media, most strategies don’t cost more to reach a broader audience. The internet has provided the ability to scale the same activity across the entire planet. And as a result of trying to reach as many people as possible, you will automatically run across people who can help your business, or would become customers that you never would have found before. One of the most prolific social media users, Guy Kawasaki, recommends to “De-focus your efforts and get as many followers as you can.”

4. It Is One Of The Fastest Ways To Build Your Expert Reputation

As long as you have been successfully in business for a number of years, then you have not only developed an expertise in what you do, but you most certainly have your own unique point-of-view on what creates success. Social Media can provide a very visible and tangible expression of this expertise. As an example, Google my name and company, “Steven MacDonald StudioHDV.” You will see highly rated articles, speaking engagements, videos, hosted events, products for sale, blogger’s commentaries, online user reviews and ratings, profiles like LinkedIn and Facebook and much more. Each of these constitutes an individual search engine ranking that collectively creates a number of third party-like endorsements from Google. These rankings can be found on Google by a number of keyword combinations. The perception is that you can’t buy that kind of representation for your brand because Google themselves determines what is appropriate to display in their own search engine rankings. Aggregated together, the collection of rankings paints a vivid portrayal of expertise. When you hand someone your business card, tell them that this is your contact information, but if they want to know more about you, they should Google your personal and company names.

5. A 180 Degree Change from Traditional Marketing

I call it PUSH versus PULL marketing. Traditional marketing (radio, newspaper, direct mail, etc.) is like casting out big marketing nets trying to catch the right people, or pushing your message at intended recipients. Sure, you can target using demographics, past behaviors, geography, etc., but how can you ever tell if you are reaching those prospects that are truly interested in what you offer? Are they ready to buy and thus predisposed to your message? And traditional marketing costs money to reach each and every prospect, no matter their value to your business. In social media, interested prospects find you, most often by typing keywords into a search engine. They PULL themselves towards you by taking a specific action on their own. This is a highly qualified prospect versus one blanketed by traditional marketing. They are literally raising their hands and identifying themselves as great prospects by the action of searching for what you have to offer. And the best part is that with social media, these hand-raisers don’t cost you a dime. Blogging, user ratings, writing articles, posting video, etc. are all free social media strategies to getting placed high in search engine rankings, allowing people to pull themselves towards you.

6. Creating Your Own Media Channels

Every time you blog, Tweet, or post onto your Facebook account you are reaching and attracting potential followers that have opted on their own to start following you. This is because they like what it is that you have to say, because it has value for them. And if you stay true to your brand, then over time you will develop a tremendous following. My own Twitter account has over a thousand followers in just a few months. In essence, I am building my own communications or media channel to prospects that I control 100%. And if stewarded properly, I can use that channel to create relationships and communicate product and service offerings without spending a dime.

7. When has Marketing Ever Created an Annuity?

Very arguably marketing helps create brands that are tremendous annuities, but I am talking about the marketing tactic itself. Once you buy a newspaper ad, a direct mailer, or a banner ad and it runs, what do you have left? You have paid your money, the service was delivered and now it is over. However in social media, because your efforts create followers that stay attached to you through your blog, Facebook account, Twitter, etc., you have added long-term value to your business. As long as you keep adding value, you maintain that relationship and the equity that comes with it. What a phenomenal new benefit of social media marketing.

8. People Want to Buy From Other People

This is the whole reason why word-of-mouth has always been the most powerful influence on purchase behavior. We trust each other more than anyone else. According to MarketingSherpa.com, 83.8% of respondents say that they trust user reviews over a critic. We don’t trust companies, but people. Traditional advertising is paid company speak. Social media is a chance to interact, participate, receive value and build relationships. This is a far cry from buying an ad.

9. Word-of-Mouth Has Been Given A Megaphone

At the end of 2008, an unsubstantiated blog post said that Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) had a heart attack and the stock price started to fall while every major news source in the country was covering it. According to the online publisher’s Association, the Internet beat out word-of-mouth by over two-to-one in every major industry sector. Why? Because word-of-mouth has now been given a megaphone online. Never before has there been such an incredible resource for information distribution as the internet. And social media is the action plan for taking advantage of its potential.

10. You’ll Miss Out On the Biggest Marketing Revolution Ever

According to Technorati.com, there are over 112 million blogs online today. No matter what your company does, whatever industry you are in or audience you reach, there is a vast online community that is already talking about the kinds of things you do and they need. Blogging is just one example of this. And the best news is that this community is always growing. So there is no time that is too late to get started!