In 2009 Global usage of social media sites increased 82% from the previous year statistics.  Is your business using social media yet or if you are you using to its full extent?

2010 is the year of the Social Media Revolution.  In December 2009 almost half of the US population used facebook and that number is growing every day.  There are hundreds of social media sites in the United States and worldwide.  There are the large sites that you hear about on a daily basis including facebook, twitter, MySpace, Linked In, and YouTube.  There are also more industry specific sites like Active Rain and i-Meet.  There also sites that have large followings, but are not always in the news like Bebo and Flixster.  There are many other large sites that are popular only outside the US and could be very useful if your company is global.

Many companies use a mix of different sites, tie them together, and tie them back to their own website.

If you currently have an outside vendor handling your social media there are some key questions you should ask them to maximize your online exposure and interaction.

• What sites work best for my business/industry?
• How many different sites should I join?  Is quality better than quantity?
• How often are you updating the content on my social media accounts?
• Are you tracking the hits on my account?

Interactivity Marketing founded and has maintained the Myrtle Beach fan page on facebook and has grown the page to over 150,000 thousand fans since starting the page in June of 2009  We were able to grow the site through constant interaction with fans, contests, and giveaways.

If your new to social media, feel like you don’t even know where to begin, or want to redevelop your current social media plan contact Interactivity Marketing and let us put together a plan to get your business into the social media revolution today.  We will do all the research to see what sites similar business are on and the site your target audience is using to ensure you’re not wasting your time or money.

Today’s consumers are under influence.  No, No.  Nothing illicit.  It’s about engaging with social media and social influences to achieve the marketing and business needs of an organization.  So is your business engaged?  If you answered no then you may be falling behind the times.  Some companies are afraid to try social media marketing for fear of failing.  By not joining the social media craze many are failing without even realizing it.  Entering the social media networking world cannot guarantee instant results and may require a long term commitment to growing the brand online.

Social media allows interaction between companies and consumers like never before.  The interaction can allow for positive comments as well as negative ones if a consumer had an issue or problem.  With social media you have the opportunity to respond back and find out why they a bad experience and possibly rectify the situation.  Word of mouth marketing is a still a top tool in many industries and by clearing up a bad situation a company may prevent the consumer from spreading their bad experience to others.

For the best social media marketing results test numerous sites and options within those sites to see what works best.  This may require asking consumers on the sites what they would like to see there.  Examples of sites to test would be facebook, twitter, blogs, YouTube, Linked In, and MySpace. There are also industry specific sites like ActiveRain for those in real estate and i-Meet for those in event and meeting planning.  Any interaction created with consumers is plus for the business.  Social media allows companies to create relationships with consumers and reach out to consumers to help create loyal customers.

Small businesses from the local bakery or restaurant down the street to large companies like Subway and Zappos.com have joined social media marketing to gain customers and allow their currents customers to help each other and help the businesses grow.  Zappos.com has over 1.6 million followers of their CEO’s twitter account and has used the large following to get feedback.

For help on not falling behind the mark on the social media marketing revolution contact us today!