What are social media friends worth?

Many businesses are a-buzz with social media marketing efforts on Facebook and Twitter. Gaining a larger following on these sites is seen as a huge accomplishment to many people but what does it really mean to your company? Do all of these "friends" or followers really impact your business? According to Syncapse each person that you have "like" or follow your page will provide you with about $136.38 in value. This value is different for many companies as some will see ROI based on the amount of purchases they make while others see it differently based on brand equity and loyalty to the company. There are different types of branding options with social media and identifying which one is right for your company is a big step in becoming successful with social media.

Syncapse also reports that if you want valuable customers, Facebook is where it is at. These friends will provide you with more money on average than those of other social media sites. This is why you really need a Facebook page because it does give you a chance to interact with your customers and to build your brand with them. Facebook is more about building relationships than focusing more on marketing.

It is important to note that social media is a very fickle business and one fan may shop a lot while another won't shop at all. You need to look at all of the efforts you are sending out there and to contribute effectively to the site in order to make the biggest difference. You will need to look at what people do respond to and focus on these types of messages versus hoping that people will respond when you post a message. Get to know your Facebook customers and it will be able to help you market your brand and to really gain a good following that does purchase product from your company often.

With the overwhelming popularity of social media and the hardships that many small businesses are facing thanks to the recession and a weak economy, many are turning to social media out of necessity. These sites do allow you a great opportunity to market your company and to find customers along with strengthening your relationship with existing customers. When people know that you care about them and you reward them for loyalty, it will make it much easier for them to continue supporting your business. You need to use social media in order to seek feedback from your customers. This type of feedback helps you create stronger marketing messages but it can really help you develop products and services that the customers want.

Many use social media for it's ability to brand your business. If you turn to social media for branding needs, be sure that you are using it often and that you use the marketing insights to see what people are actually responding to. This information will help you to create a good online presence and to truly understand what people are seeking on social media sites.

Social media is valuable to many businesses because it is free! You don't need to do a lot in order to make your presence felt but you do need to remain active and to watch what you say. The last thing you want to do is offend your customers and lose important clients. Use social media to help you create stronger relationships to your customers and this helps you to create customer loyalty. If you do have customers that remain loyal to you with your social media messages, make sure you are offering them some type of reward or benefit for following your social media page. Give them a discount or an offer that they cannot refuse in order to show them you appreciation.