Once simply a platform to connect with old friends and share thoughts, pictures and status updates, social networking sites have turned into an empowering place for companies to give information and instantaneously receive feedback from customers.
Tapping into this powerful and niche world, big businesses, small start-up companies, bands and personas are beginning to understand the important role that social networking sites hold on their individual successes.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the city of New York has even began to search for an in-house social media expert to handle their Facebook and Twitter accounts, proving that social media is here to stay and connects with people the way print media did in the past.
Why tweet, Facebook and connect on Linkedin? Because they provide a powerful platform to get ahead. To some the use of these networks seems invaluable but in actuality ongoing conversation between an organization and its customers can drive business sales. Utilizing social networking sites at the very beginning of a business adventure to gain exposure and raise awareness can put you steps ahead of competition. There are important aspects to social networking sites that the average user may not understand. This is why social media consulting firms, like Gabbaroo, have emerged over the past few years. With because they hold a fine-tuned specialty in gaining the right exposure that will in turn drive sales and company awareness.
Entrepreneurs should never overlook the real ability to garner attention through the use of sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, FourSquare and LinkedIn.
Companies like Gabbaroo work to take the pressure off of newly emerging entrepreneurs who are working to break through into the business world by taking over the aspect of social networking. Well versed in social networking terms and always educating themselves in the newest applications and tools, Gabbaroo creates a buzz that makes an impact.
A real rise in the need for experts in the field of correctly running social media sites, where a special importance is placed on gaining customer attention through blog posts, tweets, videos, pictures and more.
Whether you’re opening your own pizza parlor or on the road to creating a Fortune 500 company the use of social networking in the year 2010 is essential in the road to success. This form of awareness looks past the traditional roads of publicity and puts a real value on the customer base you are trying to reach.
Why does your company need to go social?
Brand Awareness
Consumers are beginning to ignore traditional advertising messages, once a valid form of drawing attention to a brand, commercials and advertisements are becoming a thing of the past. Consumers now have the option to Tivo television shows, which means they can fast forward through commercials, they listen to Pandora and Internet radio instead of traditional radio, so in many cases traditional advertising through these mediums becomes obsolete. Brands need to message their target audience to create Brand Awareness on forums where their target audience is present. Consumers also need to have trust in the Brand’s message. Social Media sites are conducive to Word of Mouth Marketing, which is proven to be the most trustworthy form of brand messaging. In addition, most audiences are present on Social Media Sites (for example, over 400 million users are on Facebook). Having a professional Social Media Strategy that expands your target audience and sends the right messages will strengthen Brand Awareness.
Organic SEO
By becoming social your business will obtain organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) through:
(1)PPC (Pay Per Click) or Paid Advertisement (such as Google AdWords,etc.)
(2) Through Organic Search Engine Optimization.
The difference between the two: PPC quickly advances your SEO. Within 30 days you will see results via a higher Google ranking. However, once you stop paying for the ads, your ranking drops- almost immediately. vs. Organic- Achieved through the use of meta-tags, keywords, and backlinks. Social Media sites naturally lend themselves to this use. It takes longer to see results using this method, vs. PPC, however, the results in terms of your Google ranking are much more permanent. They last longer. Implementation of a professional Social Media Strategy will take advantage of and maximize the capabilities of Social Media Sites to increase your organic SEO to enhance long term results.
An important piece to remember when going social is that anyone can post to social media sites, but if “posting” is all that you are doing as a business, then you are not utilizing social media sites properly to gain a competitive advantage within your market. Social media firms, like Gabbaroo, perform market research for individual companies and compare the companies social media presence against its competitors. Each social media strategy is customized in order to ensure that the campaign is executed properly and results are then evaluated on a monthly basis, and should be constantly perfected based on these monthly results to maximize social media presence.
By: Stephanie Abrams and Deidre Leone, Founders of Gabbaroo,
