readyBUZZ Marketing
Why you SHOULD NOT stop your social media marketing!
Social media marketing is an effective way to create brand awareness and build a loyal repeat customer base. A consistent social media branding message will establish frequency and resonate with your target audience to further develop the bond between the brand and the consumer. Remember people do not just buy brands, they join them!
Social media continues to be a hot topic among financial advisors. Here is the top obstacle along with some remedies:
- “It’s not an effective tool for reaching my audience.” This may seem like a legitimate concern, however, consider the following:
Younger high-net-worth individuals. A recent study from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Consumer Finances claims “high-net-worth individuals under the age of 50 hold 28 percent of the U.S. wealth across all asset classes.” At the same time, a 2011 Spectrum Group study revealed “younger investors are likely to view a financial advisor in a negative light if he/she does not have a social-media presence.” Furthermore, in the coming years, baby boomers will be transferring a massive amount of wealth to the more-tech-savvy Generations X and Y.
Investors exchange information online. According to a 2011 Cisco IBSG report, investors are apt to exchange information and guide each other via online blogs and message boards. Furthermore, many young high-net-worth individuals use social media channels to discuss investment decisions.
The percentage of baby boomers using social media is consistently growing. According to a study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the use of social networks by people ages 50 and over has grown over 40 percent in the past seven years. This illustrates that the older generations are slowly but surely adopting social media. AARP also cites that one-third of the estimated
270 million U.S. Internet users are baby boomers.
- Counter-intuitively, social media takes time
It’s ironical. Social media is supposed to be “quick”, right? It usually is. However, when speaking about “business”, it’s a completely different story. Business owners are kidding themselves if they think that they just need to post something to make sales.
The social audience is not used to typing its credit card number while checking out a friend’s profile, and even less rushing to a store because a new product has been released.
Social media is more than that. It’s more personal. It’s about building trust and relationships. If you focus only on “making sales”, social media marketing might be forever dead for you in the future.
On the other hand, if you think long-term, what you post today is what might bring you hundreds of sales 1 or 2 years down the road. Is that “too” long-term? Probably. But for serious businesses, it holds a lot of value. Lifetime customers, brand recognition, online AND offline word-of-mouth advertising; it’s really worth it for some.
- The take-away
Any business can use social media marketing as part of its advertising strategies, but the truth is that this form of marketing is not for everyone. If the 3 concepts above do not resonate with you, social marketing is probably not for you.
If you are looking for a more “direct conversion” from visitor to buyer, then better options would be SEO, PPC.
- Is it worth it?
Don’t Stop - The most important ‘don’t’ when it gets to online marketing. Once you start posting content, and your social accounts start to gain a following, don’t stop. If people get used to a certain level of engagement, they’ll be unhappy when it drops off. No social presence just means people don’t know who you are; a social presence that disappears might damage your brand.
readyBUZZ Marketing
Email: info@readybuzz.com
Website: http://readybuzz.com/
Location: 1370 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA
Phone: (877) 341-4802
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readyBUZZ
Twitter: @readybuzz