Today's consumers are scattered across a diverse mix of media, have more brand choices and are more in control of their purchases than ever before. Now, social media — a product of Web 2.0 — is shifting the control of brand messaging, from brands themselves to consumers. And that's forcing marketers to change how they approach business and budget allocation.
Every day, the social Web is a flurry of online activity, serving as a gathering place for millions of Internet users to voice their thoughts and opinions about your brand. Online conversations about your brand are inevitable, regardless if you have a social presence, but it's up to you to participate in or monitor those discussions. While you cannot control what is said about you, this is the first time in history you can be directly involved in consumer conversations by monitoring what is said and by immediately responding to feedback.
Without a social presence, you could be missing out on unique opportunities for engagement and interaction. Consider the fact that:
- Most consumers research brands online before going offline to purchase locally.
- A majority of consumers act on the purchase recommendations by peers and fellow consumers.
That means online information — peer referrals and recommendations in online social communities and discussion forums — are influencing purchase selection. Growing emphasis is now placed on consumer-generated ratings and reviews, which have fast become major players in the decision-making process. And consumers are searching for and following their favorite brands on popular social sites Facebook and Twitter, only to recommend those brands to their friends.
With the recent social-Web explosion, it's no doubt that social marketing is a phenomenon that is causing businesses to take notice. As social media repurposes the need for brand management in the online space, you may be wondering what tools to utilize for properly jump-starting a social-media strategy in the constantly evolving landscape of the social Web.
Made-to-Order Social-Media Services From 15miles
A social-marketing company, 15miles understands that, to be socially acceptable, all clients must determine the platforms that provide the most benefits. Some companies will find value in social-media advertising to behaviorally target consumers for increased lead generation and sales. Others will utilize the social space in different ways, from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube and LinkedIn. Still others will benefit from recent advancements that have allowed social media to cross over to other arenas; both local-social application foursquare and local-mobile application Yelp connect consumers with local storefronts.
Different needs merit diverse social-media services. At 15miles, we have services to suit your individual needs. We start with a comprehensive analysis to monitor how your competition and target consumers are utilizing the social Web. Then, we work with each client to match need and comfort level with opportunity and platform.
- Gather competitive insights.
- Observe where your customers are online.
- Participate in online conversations to generate engagement opportunities with current and potential customers.
- Gauge social-buzz marketing trends.
- Monitor brand sentiment and perception through consumer comments, ratings and reviews.
- Identify brand loyalists for word-of-mouth advertising and community/fan building.
- Generate search-engine opportunities, such as optimizing your social presence to appear in real-time search results and to increase website traffic.
- Address customer-service and product-development needs.
- Respond to public-relations and crisis-communications needs.
- Recruit via professional-networking sites.
- Geographically target your social marketing to connect locally.
- Expand your client base to grow sales.
A social-marketing campaign from 15miles includes:
- A full assessment of your current marketing landscape.
- Recommendations for next steps in social marketing.
- Planned development, training and webinars.
- Content development for social-media advertising, communities, forums, discussion groups, profiles, videos/channels, images, blogs/microblogs, RSS feeds, tags, bookmarks, wikis, widgets and mobile applications.
- Monthly trend analyses.
- Access to a social-marketing company dashboard for ongoing reporting.
- Ongoing social-media monitoring, engagement and maintenance to grow your visibility.
From low-maintenance wikis to local-social tools, we customize a social-media strategy that meets your company's objectives. Contact 15miles today for your success in social marketing.
