Effective marketing is of paramount importance especially in today's marketplace. The concept of KYC, know your customer, is very important as well. You need to study your customer like a scientist who studies a specimen under a microscope and ask the who, what, when, where and why questions:
- Who is your customer?
- What makes them tick?
- When is the best time to reach them?
- Where do they "hang out"?
- Why would they buy your product?
By understanding your customer, you can target your communication and marketing much more effectively.
Social media is becoming the new platform where business can become visible to their customers. You no longer need to spend vast amounts of money on fancy advertising and slick brochures. You can communicate to your customers through your blog, podcast, online news sites, and even by posting on other businesses' blogs.
I believe that social media will revolutionize how you market your business. Why?
- It is much easier to produce content using social media tools such as blogs, podcasts, webinars etc. than traditional tools since there is practically no learning curve. I had my blog up and running in minutes!
- Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow you to network with your current and prospective clients. These tools are very useful to me as a business owner. You'd be surprised how many people I connected with on LinkedIn. I use to have only 15 connections but now I have almost 100! Some people believe that social networking sites are impersonal, but I don't agree. I network just as effectively with people on LinkedIn as in person.
- You can educate your current and prospective clients about your products by hosting webinars, podcasts, and telephone seminars. Some business owners even post presentations on YouTube to reach many prospective clients who may have never heard of them.
I am sure there are many more ways that social media will revolutionize how you market your business. What is your experience? How has social media revolutionized your marketing? Let me know in the comments.
