Social Media - does it work for all companies?

Social media is the latest marketing buzz.

Twitter, Facebook are the main ones that everyone things of, however there are lots of others that are not quite as high profile.

When I think of Facebook - I think of my friends, family, people I know from the gym, ex girlfriends etc. all posting updates about what they had for dinner, that they are looking forward to a holiday, the like comic relief and there are always the attention seekers that update every few hours.

When I think of Twitter, I think of something very similar, businesses getting doughnuts in this morning, James making the tea, the traffic being bad in London etc.

Not terribly business related - however the advertising potential is huge.

Millions of people are using Facebook (mainly people from 8 up to 35) so if you are looking to target these users - then Facebook is a great site to target.

Millions of people are using Twitter (mainly people aged 30 - 50) so if you are looking to target these users - Twitter is a good site to target.

However does social media actually work?

Well, it is all about marketing as opposed to sales.  If you are looking to use social media for actually selling stuff and using it as a quantifiable way to produce revenue - then it is going to fail.  If you are looking to reinforce your brand (say if you are BP, Nike, HSBC - all advertisers on Facebook) then this is perfect.  People will see your adverts and even though they are not really looking at them, they are seeing the brand, the logo, the colours and subcontiously taking it in.

I have never (as far as I am aware) clicked on an advert on Facebook on purpose.  I have by accident, or to see what happened - but not on purpose due to being compelled to buy/show interest.

Mobile phones - these are a bit of a problem for social media sites, as most people using social media, use iPhones/Blackberry's to access them 'on the move' and with the limited screen size, adverts do not show as much - however as advertising is pay per click - it is not really too much of an issue other than not getting as much coverage as desired.

So, does social media work for all companies (getting back to the subject) - No.

If you are looking to generate sales - then it is not really the best marketing 'vehicle' for you; if you are looking to reinforce your brand then it is perfect.

If you are considering doing a social media campaign - then it is advised to talk to a marketing agency about targeting the campaign and getting it set up - otherwise you could spend a lot of money needlessly.