Delaying Your Social Media Marketing: Lose Audience, Consumers, Trust

Social media marketing has become a bridge to consumers with companies all over the world. Target uses Facebook to “crowdsource” ideas for where they should donate their charitable contributions. Dell crowdsources their audience on Ideastorm.com to generate ideas for their products and services while providing a voice to their consumers. Starbucks, this summer, provided a free pastry day giveaway on Twitter which generated 6 figure returns, a mountain of publicity, and thousands of new followers on Twitter.

If some of the biggest corporations on the planet are benefiting and thriving through their utilization of social media marketing, why is it so often difficult for smaller companies to catch on and join? Why do we hear the objections and questions to validity of social media when these massive companies are adopting and thriving within social media?

Engagingtimes.com’s “4 Key Stats on Social Media Engagement” is a quick and powerful argument for adoption of social media

4 Reasons to Adopt Social Media Marketing

1.  3 out of 4 US online adults: In Forresters’ Josh Bernoff’s “The Growth of Social Technology Adoption” he states: “Three in four US online adults now use social tools to connect with each other compared with just 56% in 2007.”

2.  2 out of 3 of the global internet users visit social networks: (Nielsen) the takeaway: “social networks are becoming a melting pot of interpersonal connections, and deeper levels of engagement call for more advanced analysis and technology.” Adoption is increasing

3. Social media vs. email: (Nielsen) In an eye opening finding “Visiting social (media) sites is now the 4th most popular online activity- ahead of personal email” Social networking is instant communication with real time engagement and discussion-something email will never emulate

4. Social networking accounting for 10% of all internet time: (Nielsen) time people spend on social networks is “growing at 3 times the overall internet rate of growth.”

Conclusion: This is not a warning it is a fact

Like it or not customers and future potential customers are flocking to and spending more time on social networks than ever. This is not a trend but a paradigm shift in the way we communicate, market, sell, trust, gain access, build relationships, and engage with our audiences. For those companies unwilling to adopt social media marketing now, a later move to social networks will be met with a longer harder climb to relevancy with their audiences. This is not a warning it’s a fact.