My previous article discussed What is Social Media Marketing, describing the different channels used and distinguishing it from Search Engine Optimization.

Now we turn to the more important question:

Why are companies doing Social Media Marketing?

There are several compelling business reasons why leading edge companies are doing this. These are reflected in the following questions:

1. How do we improve our marketing dollar Return on Investment?
2. What do we do to achieve Competitive Differentiation?
3. In what way do we accomplish Massive Awareness?

Let’s talk about each.

Social Media Marketing

1. ROI:

Companies are interesting in finding ways to leverage an inexpensive technique of marketing called:

Inbound Marketing also called Pull Marketing. These are distinguished from the traditional Outbound or Push Marketing. Indeed, the effective combination of the two, Inbound/Outbound or Push/Pull are sometimes referred to as: Fusion Marketing.

There is a high bang-to-buck ratio with Social Media Marketing (SMM) if done correctly. Content is inexpensively distributed electronically and re-purposed across each of the Social Media channels, magnifying the audience. Social Media is a terrific equalizer in that it allows small companies to compete more effectively with large ones by leveling the playing field. It is a type of content marketing that is conversational. A two-way communication utility that supports customer engagement through that content.

This may not be evident though, if the company is measuring ROI in the old way, using traditional metrics, looking for old customer behaviors.

2. Competitive Differentiation

Because traditional marketing is typically one way, or information pushing, SMM offers a unique difference. One advantage of a well-crafted SMM is that it engages people in a newer way than old “outbound” marketing. It starts a dialog, a relationship. As John Leavy wrote in his article Building Your Social Media Strategy Map, the purpose is to engage.

So, the behaviors you’re expecting to see are not measured by the traditional old metrics of reach and frequency. Those don’t count in the new world of Social Media. Rather, it’s social actions that you’re trying to evoke. As it’s a two-way conversation, it involves listening as well as broadcasting. The metrics are more qualitative than quantitative.

The behaviors you’re looking to see from your audience, your customers, you potential customers, and even just bystanders include the following:

Talk, enjoy, cashare, comment, review, evaluate, rate, score, grade, recommend, etc.

In this world of dialog or customer-initiated pull, the audience themselves are reaching out and asking for advice, searching for more information, or getting recommendations. Some of these social actions don’t cost anything for the advertiser. SMM affords the opportunity to have an active marketing channel as well as a way of monitoring one’s channels.

3. Massive Awareness

A proper SMM strategy creates?viral engagements for your brand. You take your message directly to customers and potential customers, who spread it to those they know. Indeed, it turns customers into advocates, active brand advocates. Have you ever spoken with a Macintosh computer owner? They’re not just satisfied customers, they want you to become a satisfied customer as well. They’re believers, they’re evangelists, they’ve got the real disease. This kind of passion is infectious, and it spreads, amplifying the message, and multiplying through the social channels. Massive awareness through social amplification that raises your brand awareness above the noise.

This massive awareness enables you to convert visitors into suspects, transform suspects into prospects, turn prospects into sales leads, nurture leads into customers. The exposure that Social Media Marketing provides, when done right, propels a prospect from awareness to buying motivation.