Laura Donovan
January seems to be the time when bloggers love making predictions for the New Year. This year, there are a lot of “hot” social platforms and trends. Tell a story on Medium, share a secret on Whispero, or send a message that self-destructs within a few seconds on Snapchat. And the list goes on.
When a Real Estate Broker recently began a rebranding effort, his idea was to be the “Internet Marketing Leader” in his area. He had his website redesigned. He had been hearing a lot about Social Media Marketing – and the new platforms and strategies. Ultimately, he became confused about how to start. He was unsure about how it all worked and whether it would work for him. He decided to postpone his social media exposure. He would stay in his comfort zone and launch his new business using the “tried and true” traditional marketing he has always done, using direct mail to send out postcards and flyers.
What this broker is missing is that while the “hot” trends are probably not his best options when it comes to marketing Real Estate, Social Media Marketing with the established platforms is how marketing is done today. It is what his customers expect, and what his competitors are already doing.
Beyond the 2015 hype is the fact that 75% of people in America are presently active on social media sites. Facebook alone has 1.4 billion active users. Nearly 8 out of 10 businesses are using Social Media to drive growth; 70% of B2C’s have acquired customers through Facebook. Smart marketers understand that Social Media Marketing is now much more than a fad, and are routinely using established platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest and YouTube to market their products and services. These are the platforms that are welcoming businesses, offering them tools that help them in their marketing efforts, including paid ads that can be targeted to specific market segments. In fact, a recent Duke University study reports that Social Media marketing budgets are forecast to nearly triple in the next 5 years.
If you are still waiting or still on the fence about using Social Media to grow your business you are wasting time. It’s time to jump into Social Media, adjust your budgets, allocate funds and start marketing and advertising with Social Media.
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