At age 20 Adam Davis owned one of the most recognised traffic generation consulting services in the world, with over 500 clients in four countries. He has educated crowds of over 1,500 people in Singapore, Australia, the UK, Indonesia and Malaysia on how to effectively send traffic to any website and make a profit.
As the power and demand of social media grew so did Adam’s interest. His understanding and knowledge about the internet allowed him to understand the trends in the market.
Since then he has started many campaigns with absolutely no marketing budget, all through the power of social media.
“Social media really started when blogging was introduced. How people used to get ranked online seven years ago is a lot different to how people get ranked now. Google takes social media really serious these days, this has revolutionised the way people and businesses need to interact on line to best get their message across,” Adam Explains.
Adam’s views on social media are far beyond just Facebook and Twitter.
“Any type of media both online/mobile which enables people to interact with each other in a way that was never available before is social media in my eyes! Social media has enabled the internet not to be just some big brochure but a giant forum where people are able to share their thoughts.”
Why do you think social media has become so popular?
Because people these days want up-to-date information and want to connect with each other at a more effective and efficient manner. It allows people to stay connected in a way where it was not available before.
A lot of it comes back to wanting to connect our thoughts and feelings with our inner species.
Do you believe social media will become the most effective form of advertising in the future?
With conversion rates you can already see social media taking over other forms of advertising. Obviously you can reach a lot of people through a TV ad but then again you will have to pay the price where as with social media you don’t.
Adam, a lot of businesses are now using their Facebook url in their ads instead of their personal website URL, why is that?
Because when customers come to a company website, they usually check out what they want to see and then they leave. Most often enough they don’t like to provide their details.
When they come to a Facebook page there is a high probability that they will hit the like button and stay connected to what you do. They can always unlike at anytime with no hassle whatsoever, see your latest news over and over again on a daily basis whilst looking at their news feed and not be bombarded with heaps of emails which no one opens anymore anyway.
So, Adam, how do companies go about measuring their return on investment when using Facebook for instance?
One thing business owners need to understand is that people are not going on Facebook as a marketplace to shop, they are there to socialise and connect with their friends.
If you are sharing, connecting and giving back to people through community-based marketing that can only lead to higher return on investment as each fan and their friends start becoming familiar with your brand. Facebook is not a week-to-week analysis, it’s about building a longer term relationship with your clients where the world is all heading now anyway.
In your opinion what is the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to using social media?
They think that it is about them, when it has nothing to do with them at all. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
So in knowing this; how does a business owner communicate and add value to grow their community?
The best way to answer that is through one word: Give. Get people in your community involved by running competitions, giving away prizes and other ways where you can add value in return for their interaction.
Don’t be known as the page that spams people with promotional items or sales pitches.
And lastly if you had to offer one piece of advice to others looking to generate success in social media what would that be?
Get on there and get on with it. Start sharing and giving and you will start to notice the ripple effect. Sometimes the easiest things in life become the hardest because we try to reinvent the wheel. Don’t over complicate it!
Interview by: Alex Pirouz is the founder of RIDC Advisory Pty Ltd. A Business and Sales Advisory firm partnering with Australia’s largest and fastest growing companies to further increase their revenue. Visit www.RIDC.com.au for more details
