Does Social Media Marketing Work?

[deepsand]

Only 30% trust social media sites.

[HTMLBasicTutor]

How about we quit the bantering and get back on topic:

I am interested in using social media marketing as part of the strategies to promote my site. I also need some insights from those who have been doing it. My question is what you think about it? Does it really work?

My 2 cents,
You have to hang where your target audience is. Just because everyone says Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin does not mean those sites are suited for your target audience. Heck, they may not even be into social networking and prefer the older tried and true social networking venues like forums or group mailing lists.

It all boils down to studying your target audience (which you should have done way back when you started your business/site) to know what they like.

So you find the right spot(s), now be social (it is called social networking after all) instead of sell, sell, sell. Just like networking offline people don't like the pushy salesmen type.

Granted, some are better at this networking thing than others but you are not going to get better at it unless you try.

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Only 30% trust social media sites.

Please the source of that information so we can all see how that number was arrived at.
(as you would require of others)

[deepsand]

Please the source of that information so we can all see how that number was arrived at.

As stated, presented to Janeth earlier in another thread. I'll not play her game of pretending otherwise.

[HTMLBasicTutor]

As stated, presented to Janeth earlier in another thread. I'll not play her game of pretending otherwise.

On behalf of all of us who have not seen said thread or remember reading it, please restate here.

Thank you.

[C0ldf1re]

... So you find the right spot(s), now be social (it is called social networking after all) instead of sell, sell, sell. Just like networking offline people don't like the pushy salesmen type...

This sounds to be very labor-intensive. You have to find where prospective customers hang out. Then you have to socialize long enough for people to like and trust you. Then you subtly hint that they might be interested in your products. I think that you'll starve before making sales this way. (And I'm happy to be proved as wrong -- then I'll have learned something!)

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On behalf of all of us who have not seen said thread or remember reading it, please restate here... Thank you.

I hereby attest and affirm that HTMLBasicTutor was speaking on my behalf too. We don't all read every thread, nor remember them.

[HTMLBasicTutor]

This sounds to be very labor-intensive. You have to find where prospective customers hang out. Then you have to socialize long enough for people to like and trust you. Then you subtly hint that they might be interested in your products. I think that you'll starve before making sales this way. (And I'm happy to be proved as wrong -- then I'll have learned something!)

Don't knock it until you tried it.

e.g. how many sales messages in your mailbox/timeline do you actually read and take action on?

[C0ldf1re]

... e.g. how many sales messages in your mailbox/timeline do you actually read and take action on?

If I get unsolicited sales messages, I treat them as spam. I might briefly scan them to see if a good sales pitch catches my eye -- so I can learn from a good salesman! But I never buy from them. The mere fact that they are spammers makes them untrustworthy!

[HTMLBasicTutor]

If I get unsolicited sales messages, I treat them as spam. I might briefly scan them to see if a good sales pitch catches my eye -- so I can learn from a good salesman! But I never buy from them. The mere fact that they are spammers makes them untrustworthy!

Let's take spammers out of the equation. I wasn't referring to them.

Someone that you thought you might like to hear from (i.e. you followed them or signed up for their newsletter) because they had interesting stuff you learnt from on their site. Once they start the hard sell stuff don't you tune them out or unfollow them? Yes there is the old thing of people have to see your ad x number of times before they buy but that's not what social networking is about.

[deepsand]

71 percent of survey participants place trust in newspapers, compared with just 30 percent who do the same for social media sites

[janeth]

71 percent of survey participants place trust in newspapers, compared with just 30 percent who do the same for social media sites

Lol, that link went to Gogole and here is what I found

http://www.powerreviews.com/resource...commerce-stats

Recommendations from family and friends trump all other consumer touchpoints when it comes to influencing purchases, according to ZenithOptimedia.
AdAge - April 2008

People are making 500 billion influence impressions on one another about products and services every year.
Forrester - April 2010

32% of shared influence posts occurred on ratings/reviews, 29% on discussion forums, 24% in blog comments, and 16% on blog posts.
Forrester - April 2010

In regards to Word Of Mouth sharing, 46% of people feel they can be brutally honest on the Internet. 38% aim to influence others when they express their preferences online.
Harris Poll - April 2010

Word of mouth is the "primary factor" behind between 20% and 50% of purchases.
McKinsey - April 2010

50% of all consumer conversations about brands refer to a company’s marketing activities.
TalkTrack(R) - August 2010

Traditional advertising (radio/TV/outdoor/print) drives 22% of word of mouth conversations where brand names are mentioned.
TalkTrack(R) - August 2010

65% of all word of mouth conversations are mostly positive.
TalkTrack(R) - August 2010

Consumers say that word of mouth is still the number one influence in their electronics (43.7%) and apparel (33.6%) purchases.
Retail Ad and Marketing Association - December 2009

Word of mouth accounts for 41% of online searches for a particular company, product, service or slogan.
iProspect - February 2010

70% of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog.
Econsultancy - January 2010

38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews.
Econsultancy - January 2010

90% of online consumers trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust unknown users, 27% trust experts, 14% trust advertising, 8% trust celebrities.
Econsultancy - July 2009

81 percent of respondents said they'd received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74 percent of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision.
Econsultancy - July 2010

The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers.
Keller Fay Group - July 2010

Word of mouth clients are about 16% more profitable than those generated by conventional advertising.
Wharton University - July 2010

While 77% of American consumers say they are more likely to buy a product or service recommended by someone they know...81% go online to verify those recommendations before actually making a purchase.
Wharton University - July 2010

43% of us will seek advice from a friend, family member or colleague before making a purchase.
GfK MRI - June 2010

Although only 7% of all brand-word of mouth conversations occur online, 38% of people have brand-word of mouth conversations both online or offline influenced by the Internet.
Yahoo - June 2010

Yahoo concluded in a 2010 study that two-thirds of word of mouth sharing is positive, and only 8% is negative.
Yahoo - June 2010

83% of online shoppers sy they want to sare information about their purchases.
digital buzz - March 2010

51% of consumers use the Internet to research items even before making a purchase in shops.
Verdict Research - May 2009

7 in 10 consumers who read reviews share them with friends, family & colleagues thus amplifying their impact.
Deloitte & Touche - September 2007

Eighty-three percent of online shoppers said they are interested in sharing information about their purchases with people they know, while 74 percent are influenced by the opinions of others in their decision to buy the product in the first place.
Manage Smarter - September 2009

20% of Twitter updates are either requests for product info, or responses to these requests.
Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) - September 2009

According to a 2010 IZEA survey, 71.3% of social media publishers had be offered some kind of incentive for a blog bpost or tweet promoting a brand.
IZEA - September 2010

85% of teen brand WOM that takes place offline, fully 75% occurs face-to-face/in person - nearly the same in-person incidence among the general population (77%).
TalkTrack - September 2010

13% of teens' brand discussions take place online (including email, texting/IM and social networking), versus 7% of the general public's.
TalkTrack - September 2010

The largest numbers of brand word of mouth incidences occur in the home: 54% among the general public, and 38% among teens.
TalkTrack - September 2010

75% of people don’t believe that companies tell the truth in advertisements.
Yankelovich - January 2010

77% of word of mouth is face to face, 17% is by phone and 6% is online.
Northeastern University - January 2006

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This sounds to be very labor-intensive. You have to find where prospective customers hang out. Then you have to socialize long enough for people to like and trust you. Then you subtly hint that they might be interested in your products. I think that you'll starve before making sales this way. (And I'm happy to be proved as wrong -- then I'll have learned something!)

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I hereby attest and affirm that HTMLBasicTutor was speaking on my behalf too. We don't all read every thread, nor remember them.

And that is the reason this is the new SEO!