Day after day I hear the same questions from clients: What is social media marketing? Is it important for us to know anything about this? Will it impact my business?

The answer to the last two questions are easy. YES. Yes, it is important to know as much as you can about using social media marketing tools for the benefit of your business. And yes, it will impact your business. Whether you know about it or don’t know about it, or use it or don’t use it, or believe in it, or don’t believe in it – this has no relevance. Social media marketing can in a way be compared to the law of gravity. If you jump off the top of a building, you will fall. Your belief system with regards to the law of gravity will make no difference to the consequences.

IF YOU’RE LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE, YOU PROBABLY HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA. YOU MAY BE ASKING WHETHER SOCIAL MEDIA IS OVERHYPED, WHETHER SOMETHING ELSE WILL REPLACE IT, OR WHETHER IT’S JUST A BIG, FAT WASTE OF TIME.

Now the first question is the real challenge. What is social media marketing?It is almost easier to answer this with what social media isn’t. Some people will tell you that social media is a “here today, gone tomorrow” fad, but those are the same people who are waiting for the eight-track tape deck to come back.

No, social media isn’t a flash in the pan. In fact, it’ll just keep evolving into something better, which is exactly what happened when personal computers (PCs) first came on the scene. The evolution of the personal computer from a simple word processor to a complex web of interconnected minicomputers is similar to the evolution of social media from simple networks to the Web 3.0 technology it’s becoming today. Both technologies continue to morph and evolve. And both technologies are here to stay.

Social media marketing isn’t traditional marketing. You can forget about the days of big advertising agencies thinking up creative one-way communication campaigns, or just throwing large media budgets at developing adverts for magazines, newspapers, radio, etc. Social media marketing is way more complex and fluid than traditional marketing – and more importantly, it requires an entirely new mindset.

Social Media marketing isn’t just for young people. The fastest-growing segment on facebook is women older than age 55! And the largest demographic on twitter is the 35-39 age group. So, yes, change that mindset. Social media isn’t just for young people – it is for anybody who is interested in using new technologies to grow their sales and revenue.

Social Media marketing isn’t a Youtube video. Just because you’ve uploaded a youtube video doesn’t mean your company has now run a social media campaign. Social media is about communicating across a wide variety of channels for a sustained period of time. It is about really managing that facebook fan page, linking it to your blog and youtube channel, and maintaining your completed Linkedin company profile. It is about updating Pinterest, linked to you facebook account, and making sure that your information is fresh, readable, watchable and of interset to your consumer.

A social media campaign is similar to a marriage. You can’t expect to have a good marriage if your primary means of communication is a single conversation for ten minutes every morning.

Social media isn’t always online. Don’t forget that a great deal of social media marketing happens offline – after people have turned off their computers/smart phones, etc. Your online audience continues to communicate with each other off-line, and this also impacts your business.

Social media marketing isn’t something that cannot be measured. Like any marketing, social media marketing can definately be measured. The great news, of course, is once you take the time to measure your social media marketing, you might discover that it is a significant source of products. Measure your social media marketing, track your ROI (return on investment). If you track your ROI, you can increae profits. And that should be a great thing!

The social media landscape is pitted with obstacles and potholes for those who venture into it without a map. For advice on navigating the landscape, call Jolindy Dreyer on 082 780 9209.