Why Social Media Will Take You to the Next Level

I'm sure you have heard that social media is the hot topic in marketing and that you need to be there, but here are some stats to back up the hype.

The following infographic presents some great evidence from this year's Social Media Examiner's Marketing Industry Report to support the trends of social media this year (download the report here).

From this 43 page report, here are the keys that you need to know to take your company to the next level:

YouTube is the new golden child.

According to the report, 69% of marketers plan to increase their use of the platform, which is no surprise. YouTube is the little known tool to significantly help with SEO.  Marketers are constantly fighting for keywords on Google, pushing up the cost per pick and Google ad pricing, whereas YouTube presents a cost-effective alternative that is relatively untapped. Although your website may not appear at the top for certain terms, your properly uploaded YouTube video might.

Podcasting is exploding.

This is the hottest marketing trend of 2013. This platform is wide open and savvy brands are jumping on the podcast bandwagon. Stats have increased from 5% of marketers podcasting to 24% of marketers increasing their podcasting efforts.

Facebook and LinkedIn is where marketers are investing their time.

In the survey of marketers, when asked which social media platform they would choose it they could only choose one was Facebook (49%), followed by LinkedIn(16%).

#1 benefit of Social Media is increased exposure.

Although we all would like the track every sale with social media to show ROI, the real reason we use social media is for market awareness. These platforms allow brands to interact with their customers cost effectively in a way that was previously not possible.

See the stats for yourself...

Image source: www.topwebdesignschools.org

It is clear from the infographic above that brands are investing in social media and it is becoming more and more important every year to an overall marketing strategy. Will your company be left in the dust or will you make a splash in your market and utilize social media to its greatest potential?

Still not convinced social media can help your business? Let me know why in the comments below.

If this post struck a chord with you and you are ready to increase your exposure online, then look no further. I am here to help you be able to get back to what you do best and I can handle the rest.

Click the “Contact Us Now” button to get started. If you would like a sample of the ideas we could generate to help your business, click here for a free digital marketing report, custom-made for your company. Even if you are not in Tulsa, I also do have consulting available for you to purchase to get one-on-one help from me to kick-start your next project, company, idea…the skies the limit. Click here for more info on those services.

Don't think social media has an impact? Tell that to my viral tweet!

Don't think social media has an impact?

Tell that to my tweet that went viral last night from the tornado in Broken Arrow.

As many of you know...Tulsa, OK made national news last night for the tornadoes. Oklahoma is in the spotlight now in light of the recent devastation in Moore and OKC. Tulsa is my home and when I heard of the tornado heading our way I packed up my laptop, iPad, and my dog and headed for my friend's house. At the time this was a great idea for the storms were not near her neighborhood. But as you will see from my photo, we were right near all the tornado action.

Tornado tweet goes viral

Many people do not think social media has an impact, but you can see countless examples of social media giving the inside scoop to national disasters like the OKC/Moore tornado and the Boston Marathon. Not thinking my image would take flight, I posted it on my personal account for my followers to see. Within minutes my image was being retweeted by storm chasers and I was receiving tweets and even a phone call from NYC from CNN's Anderson Cooper's 360 news show.

Tornado pic on CNN

Now looking at my tweet it may not seem that it went viral, but it only takes the right people for you to see a huge impact in your social media. From the 7 and counting retweets it received, the photo was on CNN and other new stations shows and websites within the hour. My tweet was also changed many times and other people's tweets were then retweeted....creating more virality.

View of Retweets of BA Tornado

Now there are countless examples of virality on social media and me having my own personal story continues to prove the point that social media has IMPACT. Simply by being involved in a trending conversation on Twitter allowed me to have my image featured on national news and had people calling me from all over asking if that was my image on the news.

Here are some other places my photo showed up:

News on 6 article

News 9 article

News on 6 Image

Welcome Oklahoma article

Screen Shot 2013-05-31 at 2.14.45 AM

Moore Oklahoma Tornado Recovery Facebook page

Screen Shot 2013-05-31 at 2.19.44 AM

92.1 The Beat Facebook page

92.1 the Beat using image

So how can we translate my example to your business?

1. Participate

You cannot go viral if you are not in the game. If you do not have a Twitter account for your business, let alone yourself, get one.

2. Listen

In order for you to get noticed and potentially go viral, you need to tweet things that are interesting and unique. For my example I tweeted what was big news in my city and it happened to go viral because I pushed the button and it was a hot topic that people were reading in real-time via Twitter search. Know what events and what is trending in your field.

3. Act

Knowing what is going on is half of the battle. After listening to what are the hot topics that are trending and relevant to your business giving the input, act on the trend. Send a tweet, allowing you to take part in the conversation. With social media you never know, you could end up on CNN.

Just like anything viral, seeing my tweet on the news was totally unexpected, but again it would not have happened if I did not hit send on my tweet. I encourage you to being participating in Twitter for your business and listening to the trends that are relevant for your customers.

If you have read this article and need help with Twitter feel free to send me an e-mail at Kersten at Speakeasy Market Strategies dot come. I do also have social media management programs available for those that need Twitter, but would like someone to manage it for them.

P.S.

Here are a few Vine videos I took prior to the funnel cloud appearance.