Having clear expectations will make more sense of your social business efforts.

When we think Social Media for our business. Many people mainly look to turn sales, understandable. Chances are you have a staff member adding social to their list of responsibilities, taking them away from other projects. Or you've hired an outside social media firm to do your social business and you'd like a quick ROI. Either way you have resources being used to fuel this social mission. It's important to have a realistic expectation of what Social Business is actually going to accomplish. In a 2012 study, professional marketers were asked to quantify their efforts - here are the results.

"Myth & Skepticism: For many, social media springs TMI (too much information) status messages on Facebook, adorably annoying cat videos on YouTube, and people going on and on about nothing. However, businesses must look beyond the shallow surface of social. Beyond lies a wide open field for people to learn more about your company and for you to learn more about your customers. Social Business is not the mere task of having a profile. It’s about strategy and smart campaigns."

It's clear social media plays a decisive role in most companies’ marketing structures. The top-tier benefits of social media marketing include increased exposure, increased traffic, and a greater marketplace insight.

The marketers who saw results consistent with these spent an average of 6-8 hours on social media per week. Those who used more/less saw the impact on these results.

Explained:

Increased Exposure: 85% of marketers noted gains in business exposure which raised their brand recognition and 'expert' reputation.

Increased Traffic: 69% of marketers noted increases in overall traffic to their website, which helped raised sales, newsletter opt-in, etc...

Marketplace Insight: 65% of marketers use social media as a marketplace intelligence tool. Understanding what their customers want/need.

Generated Leads: 58% of saw an increase in lead generation. It should also be noted that 65 percent of small business owners were more likely than others (who simply had a website) to generate leads.

Developed Loyal Fans: 58% of marketers using social media saw an increase in the amount of loyal, dedicated fans. With a one year utilization of social media the acquisition of loyal fan bases increased to 65%.

Improved Search: 55% of marketers on social media saw improvement in their search rankings. The more time spent marketing with social media, the more of a search ranking increase you will see. This number WILL grow in 2013 due to changes in Google search.

Grew Business Partnerships: companies spending more than 8 hours a week on social media gained stronger partnerships with other businesses. 51% of marketers polled were able to grow profitable business partnerships from this experience.

Expenses: At 46%, almost half of marketers using social media efforts experienced reduced marketing expenses. They were reaching audiences online who didn't require another [costly] method: TV, Radio, Print, Billboard, etc...

Improved Sales: A significant 40% of marketers polled using social media have indicated a sales increase. small-medium businesses also saw a noticeable increase using social media.

Your Social Business is:
Website + Blog + Social Media + Engagement + Video/Photos + Articles About You

I hope this answers some questions about the importance, necessity, of online presence. If you have more questions. Please call or email me directly.

Follow me on Twitter @csrsocialite

Margaret M. Brown
626-710-4221
Email