In this digital era, many businesses can’t survive without social media. It is a huge revolution that changes how people do business. And having worked with many clients over the years, SEO specialist should know that topics related to social media is often a hazy one. Some SEO specialists are very talented people that can legitimately take client’s business to the next level. But many others are just glorified conmen that do little more than trying to empty clients’ wallet.
SEO and social media are two gold mines that many people are really excited about. You’ll see these buzz words again and again. As SEO specialists, you are very likely to say and hear them often during meeting with clients.
The part that makes many clients angry is the level of rampant trickery involved in SEO business. Bad marketers woo them with wonderful promises and lure many clients to invest too much on little things. Honest marketers often see first hand how clients don’t have a clue on what SEO and social media are about. Consequently, they are inclined to trust everything these “experts” say to them. However, many new SEO specialists still suffer from a number of misconceptions, which cause them to drag clients into the wrong path, these are some of them:
Social Media is a Great Way to Get a Website Noticed
Inexperienced SEO specialists may hound clients with the word “viral”, like it is an easily achievable goal. They say that fame and worldwide recognition are just clicks away.
The same promises were made fifteen years ago when online markets tried to convince business owners that they need a website; although, it was ultimately valid, many of their promises were unrealistic. The truth is, having a website and a few social media accounts are not enough to survive in the gigantic virtual megapolitan, called the Internet. These simple actions may not be enough to catch the attention of even a single visitor.
Regardless of what inexperienced SEO specialists try to believe, people are not scouring Facebook and Twitter to subscribe and randomly follow businesses. They use social network to connect to family and friend that they really care about and only occasionally decide whether a business worth subscribing for. Many new marketers believe that by shooting a couple of tweets, customers will line up for miles and their clients’ phone will be ringing off the hook. Like many other advertising outlets, efforts in social media can easily fall on deaf ears.
Social media offers instant ROI
Many new SEO specialists still believe on this laughable statement. Remember that even Twitter, Youtube and Facebook themselves barely know how to establish a clear source of revenue, because they are essentially free services. It is far easier for these services to burn wads of cash than making them. Definitely, social media can be a highly valuable marketing and networking tool. Trouble is, nobody has clear idea to gauge the effectiveness of social media for clients’ marketing campaign. The most quantifiable data is friend and followers count, but they are notoriously unreliable.
Many SEO practitioners fail to realize that public recognition plays a significant factor in social media marketing; major corporations like Samsung, Ford and Burger King have ridiculously high return-on-investment (ROI) yields from Twitter and Facebook. What new marketers don’t realize is that most clients are not huge corporate. Just because clients pour plenty of money in a social media campaign, it doesn’t mean that people will notice.
Despite attempts to turn common methods, like social media campaigns, into profitability; results of these efforts are often negligible initially. It isn’t until one year or so before clients can actually see some results. On practical level, promises for Internet marketing success can only be achieved in long-term timeframe.
More friends and followers equal to more success
Once SEO specialists have clients’ social media campaign up and running, they are professionally obliged to show some proofs of their works. Weekly or monthly reports often include all available quantifiable data such as Twitter follower, Facebook fans and others. Uninformed clients often get to really excited over these numbers, but building up friends/followers is not equal to establishing quality connections.
Clients should consider how visitors as individuals use Twitter. They are unlikely to get interested to incessant pleas from random businesses. Many clients end up getting “junk followers/friends” that have little or no value for their business. You want real customers not tons of inactive followers. SEO specialists should show clients how many real followers they have, using services such as Twittoria and Tweepi.
If clients are paying someone to get some results and all they get are only 500 new followers, then they may not be getting their money’s worth. Clients should ask SEO specialists about how active these followers are, who are they, are they people or business. If specialist fails to deliver convincing answers, then perhaps he is either inexperienced or a con artist. Small business with limited marketing budget shouldn’t hire experts to gain enough presence in social media, because setting up accounts in social media won’t cost them a cent.
There are tons of affordable or free tools for businesspersons to manage their social media campaign like an expert. CoTweet and HootSuite are just a few versatile tools commonly used by marketers in social media .Clients and SEO specialists should have a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to conducting marketing efforts in social media.
The tricky part is; many dishonest markets wrap lies in truth. On the right hands, social media is a powerful, positive force, which can transform new businesses into profitable ventures.
Regardless of the above pitfalls, there are still significant benefits to social media from business perspective. Countless businesses generate sales using Twitter and Facebook as customer service tools. Consequently, repeat business and customer satisfaction have gone through the roof. Once people realize that there are real people manning a social media account, they are more willing to purchase offered products and services.
Raja Writes on SEO, Blogging, Web Design, Web Hosting. He regularly writes on Reseller Hosting Reviews and Web Hosting Reviews at WebHostingReview.info
