Nielsen, a global consumer research company has found that 92% of consumers worldwide trust word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising.
What does that mean for your business? It means if your brand has a story to tell then start tweeting, YouTube a video, let all your friends on facebook and all your potential employees on linkedIn know your brand’s story. Spread the word through social media and receive the impact throughout your business. Social network sites are where people engage and create a relationship with your brand - what remains the place for transaction or conversion is still your brand's website.
Here are some ways businesses have used Facebook in their marketing mix.
Squishable.com, a plush toy manufacturer uses facebook for market research to identify what plush toy fans want to buy. Once in the design phase, Squishable.com posts its sketches on Facebook, asking for fan feedback. All the key decisions—whether the Kiwi ends up being blue or purple, for example—are made by fans. Only the highest fan based plush toys are developed. At Squishable.com, 29% of the traffic now comes from Facebook.
The Smith Family uses cause-related marketing to highlight disadvantaged children in Australia who stand out in school for all the wrong reasons. Their execution on Facebook allows users to pledge or share their intentions of sponsoring a child on an item the child is disadvantaged on. This may be such thing as a worn-out uniform, lack of shoes, no money for textbooks, excursions or a decent breakfast. When a user has pledged their intention this will immediately trigger an action in their friends’ facebook news feeds. Their friends and family are then encouraged to make a pledge as well. All sponsorship transactions are sent to the Smith Family website.
1-800-FLOWERS.COM originally was using Facebook as a customer support page until they realised the potential it has from the feedbacks posted. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM installed Like buttons on its e-commerce site, letting visitors like a particular bouquet or other product they would be happy to receive. Every time customers clicked Like, the action triggered a story in their friends’ facebook news feeds - and that flower power meant people were talking to their friends about the brand.
Still not sure if social media is right for you? Now with Google analytics you can measure the value of social media on your business. Google analytics will identify the full value of traffic coming from social sites and provide you with a complete picture of the social impact on your business and its conversions.
So, if you’re considering launching a new page on Facebook, it is worthwhile looking at Facebook Marketplace Ads to spread the word, combined with a content strategy to get your audience immediately engaged on your page, Quantum can help build the momentum for your page.
