Having been online myself since 1996, the Internet is a huge part of my life, and I can’t remember how life was before it – or imagine how I’d cope without it! However, I’m continually coming across people – and, more often, businesses – who aren’t online and who certainly aren’t using social media within their marketing mix.
The worst case scenario is businesses who don’t have any kind of web presence at all. Now for me personally, when I want to find contact details for a company, or check out a restaurant, or find someone to supply me with a product, the first place I go is Google. And if that company has no presence at all, or shows up in the Yell listings but doesn’t have a link to a website, then the chances of me using them are tiny. I’ll always keep looking till I find a business with a website. Why? Because it means I can research them before I contact them and already feel I have a relationship with them before the business transaction even begins.
So for me, companies lose out on business completely through not having a web presence. But how much are they affected by not using social media to promote themselves?
Going by the video below, hugely. Even if you take the statistics with a large pinch of salt they do a great job of showing how vital the various forms of social media have become to everyday life.
For businesses, the statistics about the effectiveness of advertising in particular are worth taking note of. Only 14% of people trust advertisements. Only 18% of traditional TV ad campaigns make a positive ROI. 78% of us trust the recommendations of our peers. And how are those recommendations communicated? Through social media, of course. Through people blogging about your products, tweeting the links to friends, discussing your service on Facebook. The web in general, and blogs, Facebook and Twitter in particular, have taken over from traditional advertising – and you will lose out if you’re not part of the sopcial media party.
If you’re not using the web and social media to promote your business you ARE going to get left behind. If you’re not convinced of that, watch the video below. If you want to join the social media revolution and use it to grow your business, email me and ask me how!
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