“Talk to your customers.”

I think most people would agree with this statement. By talking to your customers, listening to and understanding their needs should certainly help to provide a more appropriate solution and a better service.

But how effectively does traditional marketing help you to talk to your customers? Not very well I would suggest. Traditional marketing has mainly focused on talking at customers, telling them how lucky they are to be using the company’s product or service.

Take a look at a typical direct mail piece. In fact, please see if you can find one now. (It’s probably in the bin under you desk!) I’ll wait.

Now, there is a good chance that your direct mail piece addresses you as ‘Dear Customer’. (This despite digital printing allowing easy personalisation.) It probably then goes on to tell you how wonderful the company’s product or service is. And soon enough it directs you to the order page. I am pretty sure that at no point does it make any real attempt to understand your needs.

In fact, traditional marketing is mostly a monologue. Alright, I exaggerate a little, but I hope you see my point.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, offers a real opportunity to have a conversation with your customers and target audience.

Take Twitter, for example. It allows you to address your customers by their real names, debate key issues with them, understand their problems, reply to their questions and provide effective solutions. All in real time. And all for free.

The same is true with Facebook. What’s more, you can also seamlessly integrate these channels into your existing website to conduct a genuine dialogue with your customers.

And unlike traditional marketing, you don’t need overpaid creative agencies to design your Twitter and Facebook pages. In fact, you can do that yourself with easy-to-use tools and I am sure your web hosting company will help you integrate both into your website.

So, if you haven’t added social media into your marketing armoury, now is the perfect time to make a start. Good luck!

Bebo · Facebook · Social Media · Twitter · Web Hosting

While a website is a pre-requisite for every business, it now appears that Facebook profile is a must for all students.

In fact, according to new research from Milkround.com, the graduate recruitment specialist, 92% of students they polled had a Facebook profile. And while Myspace (43%) and Bebo (25%) lagged somewhat, Twitter (38%) and the professional networking site LinkedIn (17%) were also well represented amongst this highly-valued target market.

All this is great news if your products / services are aimed at young people / students.

Our advice is simple – grab these opportunities by creating your profiles across these platforms. And they are all free! What else does a small business need?!

Bebo · Facebook · LinkedIn · Myspace · Social Media · Twitter