YourNetBiz Mentors Reveal The Social Marketing Hysteria

Everywhere you go someone is talking about the social media tools online.  Whether we are referencing it for personal or for business purposes, there is a definite buzz going on offline and online, regarding the social networking craze.  I held a YourNetBiz training this past week, and the two main marketing questions were about search engine optimization and social networking.  Who would have thought just five years ago that SEO and social networking would be put in the same category?

There is no doubt that the buzz is as recognized as SEO for marketers.  What we do have to consider with these marketing strategies is which one creates the most buzz.  While SEO is talked heavily about on for online marketing, it is undeniable that the majority offline have no understanding or do not care to understand how SEO works.  Yet, you go to a small gathering everyone knows about Facebook and twitter.

In our business mentoring for Your Net Biz and My Internet Business we held a poll, and were surprised by the answer.  What was the number one reason that brought you to our Mentors 4 U mentoring team?   While SEO led in statistics it only won marginally to social networking.    It appears that everyone wants to unlock the key to social networking.

You look across small businesses are investing large amounts in learning the social networking strategies.  Forget this is a free marketing strategy they can use; they will pay to get an insider view at the social networking craze.   From Direct Sales Business, to your local retail shop, to Wal-Mart experiment with the social networking. 

How can you use these outlets to reach customers for Your Net Biz? Can you truly connect with people in a way that will create business relationships?  There is no doubt it is different traffic then the search engines, where potential customers put in a target keyword and your website is responding to them.    Targeted traffic. …Definitely!  So how can you compare social networking to SEO?

SEO puts your business, in front of your target audience, but social networking can as well as long as it is done correctly.    For those of us that are unlocking the key, so to speak, is wise in investment.    But compared to SEO there is one benefit that cannot be overlooked.   Personalized, and relationships.  For those that say sales and relationships do not go hand and hand just doesn’t make sense.   The fact is people buy from those that they like and trust.  Social networking creates those types of relationships.

Is social networking a solid marketing strategy to build YourNetBiz?  No question.  Should it be implemented in your marketing schedule for 2010?  Well if you have read this far you should know my answer to that.