What are the old ways?

1. TV
2. Radio
3. Print
4. Even, web ads

Yeah, so some of these are still ok, especially funny Super Bowl commercials.  But, the reason we know these don’t work is because people get ticked off by them!  There are some ads that are so atrocious to me that I merely refuse to purchase from the company paying for the ad.  Specifically, there’s one lawyer who does this horrible ad (for the life of me can’t find this horrible ad on YouTube) where he reads off a card off camera.  I have no need of a lawyer, yet this ad would keep me from asking of their services even if I needed one.

So, why do I bring this up?  Because, marketing via social media brings pointed results.  When you buy a radio, print or TV ad, you have no idea who’s going to respond or who did respond from that ad.  When you market yourself (the right way, of course…and yes, there is a right way to market yourself using social media, and, hence, a wrong way) using social media, it’s very simple to record results, track your following/friends/fans, observe reactions, search for reviews of your biz, and optimize your advertising/marketing efforts.  That’s the joy of social media for businesses, it’s an extremely effective way to reach and communicate with potential customers.

The next time you think about whether or not social media is just a fad, remember this, we also once thought that email would come and go…

Some interesting links of interest:

A List of Social Media Marketing Examples (BeingPeterKim.com)
Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki (SocialText.net)
26 Social Media Marketing Examples in Detail (IgniteSocialMedia.com)
300+ Cases & Examples of Social Media Marketing (Monty C. Metzger Blog)
3 New Social Media Studies Worth Reading (SocialMediaExaminer.com)

So, how can we help here at Fitzwater Enterprises?

• We help you start a conversation with current and future customers
• We help you engage your customers using current online interaction best practices
• We help plan and implement a strategy based on your specific business needs
• We help you build your social media campaigns around your brand, not the other way around
• We teach you how to use social media so you never have to hire a social media consultant after we’re finished
• We help you funnel people to your products and services using attraction marketing rather than harassment marketing
• We help you understand the current online climate and it’s participants so you can better serve your customers who are engaged in that very climate
• We help you design unique, branded pages and social media sites specific to your business
• We help you automate the process so you can easily implement, manage and continue to update your social media platforms without wasting hours a day
• We streamline the process to fit your needs
• And much, much more …

If you have questions, we can answer them (or we will find an answer!) and are happy to give you a FREE consultation so you have the tools and information needed to decide what will serve your business and customers best!

The survey shows two things to me:

1.  25% of businesses say they are using social media and it’s helping create a stream of leads for their business which is more than we would have predicted

2.  75% of businesses don’t see effective uses for social media (or haven’t even tried to figure it out).  This shows how young the social media revolution is.  Listen, social media is here to stay, and we’re at the very earliest stages of it’s implementation for businesses and even political campaigns.  This shows that very few businesses understand the potential growth catalysts involved with social media.

Social media is changing the game for many businesses.  Although this study seemingly says a lot about the effectiveness of social media, the 75% of businesses that don’t find it effective have either not used social media or they haven’t developed a plan for its successful implementation in their businesses (Mainly because they don’t know what they’re doing or because its pretty intimidating trying to come up with a plan for something you don’t understand).

If you answered, “Never,” you may want to start re-thinking your marketing plan.

If you answered, “Sometimes,” a little motivation may be necessary.

Or, if you answered, “Often,” you’re moving in the right direction!

At Fitzwater Enterprises, we have a solution for more effective communication: Go meet your people where they are, and statistics show that your clients, supporters and friends can be found on social media sites.

Utilizing FREE marketing techniques in a cohesive social media campaign will bring that extra oomph! to your business, campaign or network.  And, with the economy in tough shape, optimizing FREE marketing techniques while building your following is always an intelligent decision!

Well, if you are on twitter, Facebook, MySpace or YouTube you understand the significance of social media.  With millions of unique visitors to these sites daily, the ability to connect with a large network in such a short amount of time can bring about a viral movement for anyone’s brand, political following or close friends.

But, how effective can you really be at getting your message across to people on these social media sites?  I mean, can a business, politician or any of my friends really get the word out about my issue?  The answer to that is a resounding YES!

Take the Nielson Report released at the end of September 2009 as an example.  The study shows that active users of social media have nearly tripled the amount of time they’ve spent on social media sites since last year.  Facebook alone has over 300 million active users around the world and of those over 50% log in to their accounts every single day.

So, why use social media to build your business, brand, political following or network?  The reason is simple, social media is today’s marketplace for everything from buying shoes and cars to voter education and grassroots organizing to reconnecting with old high school pals and college frat brothers/sorority sisters.  Strike while the iron is hot!

If you don’t utilize these tools to market your product, your campaign or your network, you will be left in the dust by those who realized innovation was what ushered us into the 21st century and moves us forward today.