My 'Not-So-Personal' Blog

Do you use social media for business? If you do, you have a very important question to answer. How does social media work for you? Is it better for retention, or is it better for acquisition? This is a very pertinent question because this helps you determine if using social media makes good sense. The pie chart shown below is the breakup of the objectives of social media as listed by the social media managers in the US market. I’ve considered the US market primarily because a bulk of social media work is happening in the US markets and its going to be a while before it starts to get big in countries like India.

This shows that brand awareness is on the minds of most social media managers. It does make sound sense too. The retentive value of what people see while using social media makes this a most excellent medium for promoting their products. As a smaller company, the main concern should be to check if the long term benefits of a social media campaign can match up to your current and short term goals.

Most analysis services state plainly that marketers around the world are using social media primarily to increase brand awareness and maintain the brand’s reputation. I reckon that customer acquisition is the most important goal of smaller companies and that social media should be directed in that direction. Larger companies that are active on social media tend to overshadow these smaller companies. But there is hope. A smart social media plan can help your reach audiences that the larger businesses are missing out on. Trust me on this… theres a place for everybody under the sun. Define your niche and play it up and its social media #FTW!

– Image sourced from http://www.eMarketer.com