Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Extend Your "Brand" With Social Media Marketing

It seems like everybody in today's world has "friends" on Facebook.  Many of us follow "tweets" on Twitter.  Professional folk are LinkedIn with one another.  People share their vacation videos with the world on YouTube.  You can find someone to buy Mom's old Pontiac through Craigslist, and most of that stuff in your attic can find a new owner using eBay.

Websites that connect people with other folk of similar interest are known collectively as "social media" sites.  Sharing user-generated content over the internet is not a brand-new idea.  Many of us started out with the old text-based AOL or Genie chat rooms back in the '80s.  Teenagers who used MySpace in the early 2000s are now young adults who not only have an appetite for consumer goods and services, but also make their purchasing decisions based on information shared with and delivered to them through social media outlets.

According to Nielsen's Social Media Report 2012, Internet users in the United States spent a collective 121 billion minutes on social media sites in July of 2012.  In July of 2011, that figure stood at 88 billion minutesfor a one-year increase in social media usage of 37 percent! 

Considering the marketing opportunity for your business, social media sites have unlimited potential to deliver your company's advertising message directly to the computer and smart phone screens of thousands of local users and potential customers.  The best part of this marketing strategy is in its cost: practically free!   Establishing your social media presence takes a little time and regular posting keeps your message moving.  Unlike newspaper, television, radio, and Yellow Pages, there is no cost for using the service or web site!

Give Brad Bradford a call if you would like more information or assistance in establishing a social media presence as part of your marketing strategy.  "Like" us on Facebook by clicking here!  Or, you can contact us through our web site, www.bbays.com.

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