9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009
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Social marketing is the new search engine optimization. Reciprocal voting is the new reciprocal linking. It offers a fairly low barrier to entry, and the opportunity to drive a TON of traffic in a short period of time. Even more importantly, social media has become a cornerstone of the strategy for launching sites, or improving their link popularity.
What is social media and why do we need it?
Wake up and smell the series of tubes. Here’s social media in plain English. You’re banned from using the company email and internet until you read the Cluetrain, and can name at least 10 social media sites, and which 3 are likely to drive the most traffic. If you’re in a corporation that won’t listen, or change anything because of what lawyers say - you deserve your miserable cubicle dwelling existence for not standing up and pitching things better. I hope your 401k makes it out the door before your idiot executives bankrupt the company drinking fine wine and Cristal on their executive retreats to Tahoe. Redtape sucks, and generally only exists to screw people. Find a better company, and keep learning how to pitch the novel idea of treating your customers and web visitors with respect.
How to Pitch Social Media Marketing Internally in 6 easy steps:
1. Create Positive ROI on keyword set for a PPC campaign.
2. Explain lifetime value of a converting customer that came from that keyword set
3. Sell the value of SEO as a long term, less expensive form of PPC on above mentioned keywords. Here’s some help.
4 . Demonstrate the need and importance of links to search engine rankings.
5 . Explain the value and process for obtaining links (and how much these would cost).
6 . Introduce the idea of linkbaiting and social media marketing.
I know, I know, that sounds a whole lot easier than it is when you’re facing the red tape in your company. Build your case slowly, and plot your strategy to be executed over time. More help to build your case below.
9 Reasons you NEED social media marketing in 2009
1. Your competition is doing it.
Most of the competition that’s doing it, you didn’t even know was your competition - UNTIL they started showing up for your best converting search phrases. Why are they showing up you ask? Well, they’re leveraging social media to build global link popularity and brand awareness. You’re customers know who they are now, and know that they’re faster, smaller, more efficient, and will keep them happy. They’ve implemented the technology to minimize overhead, and are treating customers better.
2. Your customers are using it (though maybe indirectly)
No matter how non-technical your customers are - social media impacts their consumption decisions. Social media’s impact on traditional media is increasing on a daily basis. Newspapers, television, and radio, are realizing that digg, reddit, and twitter, are sometimes even faster than the AP newswire. This impacts which news is presented in a traditional sense. The geeks, webmasters, the trendsetters, and other folks who are on the bleeding edge are now watching social media outlets and republishing to the channels that your customers are consuming from.
3. Your vendors and partners are using it
You know who’s NOT using facebook, twitter, digg, delicious, reddit, myspace, stumbleupon, and other large traffic social networks well? Automakers and Banks. Luckily, they can get billion dollar bailouts.
Try getting your modem rebooted over the phone with comcast - then ping @comcastcares You can thank them and I for the time savings later.
Has your site been on the homepage of digg or reddit? Has your site been stumbled? Do you know what it is? Do you think your no overhead web based competition from the Silicon Valley knows what it is?
4. More Social = more Search.
More Search = More Customers.
More customers = More business.
Duh. The web is more de-centralized than ever. After we do our initial searches through the Google, we start looking for communities of likeminded people. Your best customers are the ones that are passionate and want to have a conversation about you, your product, or something related (news, pictures, whatever). You need to be there to have the conversation WITH your customers. Otherwise, they will have it behind your back. You might not be able to rank right away on search engines anymore, but you can get to the top of a news or industry specific site for a few days with good content.
5. Paid search prices are rising.
PPC consulting is still a great solution to improving your ROI, and decreasing your CPC - but the market is getting tougher. It is great to be able to buy your keyword phrase to your targeted audience - but everyone is becoming wise to that fact. Those awesome high conversion, high profit keywords are slowly having the ROI sucked out of them by rising click prices. This makes organic search a must have long term proposition. Any self-respecting search marketer is going to tell you that you need natural links. And the best place to get natural links is???!?!?! You guessed it Chachi - Social media linkbaiting.
6. SEO isn’t easy anymore
Man do I miss the days of buying run of site text links and ranking top for any search term. Like Jim, I would never buy links anymore (okay, maybe I’d TRADE for them if it was SUPER relevant). The days of the little guys ranking well in google is slowly coming to an end, and a glorious era will go down in history. Pretty soon, however, it will be big business as usual. Those same big businesses have a while to catch on to social media FOR SEO, but they’ll do that eventually too. Personalized search is the next big thing (and yes it’s now REALLY almost here). You need lots of people coming to your site, staying on your site, and bookmarking your site for later to prove that you deserve to be on top of the search results.
7. You can’t buy links anymore
The communists have won the war. We have declared defeat. Of course if you listen to SEO’s and search engineers for too long, you will think that there are NO links that pass value. Well, at least we can pay to create viral content, and pay for optimization in the distribution channel, and HOPE that people link to us. The content kings have one, and it’s time to get writing. You might as well start talking to your customers and actually giving them what they want. Since bounce rate is now a significant factor for search results, it’s gonna hurt you to dupe your users with crap content anyhow.
8. Your website is only a billboard
You can have the most beautiful website in the world, and without traffic, it might as well be a billboard in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa. Just ask all those big corporations who paid millions to have their beautiful flash sites built, and forgot to hire a SEO. You launched your site, and now you need traffic, or it’s been there for a long time, and you need MORE traffic and exposure. You listened to the search engines, and created great content! (after all, content is king!) But you still don’t seem to have much traction, and only your Aunt Frita, Uncle Merv, and 6 other people are visiting your site every day.
9. Great ROI on the Marketing Budget
With the DIY route and use social tools, social media marketing is the grass roots, word of mouth wonder of the web. Social media is building future communication empires at the moment with the likes of facebook, digg, reddit, digg, delicious, as the distribution points for web communication. They are the portals that every dot-bust era strived to be. Social media is seperating the old guard from the new, and rewarding those that are quick to embrace the technology. Do you?
Bonus #10: It’s a distribution point.
Social media is a way to reliably disperse your message to a group of people who want to hear what you have to say. When you have something good to say - you TELL them through your selected channels. At minimum, companies are becoming aware that they need to have conversations with their customers somehow.
40 Comments
Why You Need to Include Social Media in Your 2009 Marketing Budget
December 22nd, 2008,
9:26 am
[...] online marketing or search marketing mix in 2009, I highly suggest giving Todd Malicoat’s 9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009 Social marketing is the new search engine optimization. Reciprocal voting is the new reciprocal [...]
Nick Stamoulis
December 22nd, 2008,
10:58 am
Social Media marketing is only on the nose end and will only get refined as time moves forward. Companies have to get on board now or they will have a great deal of catching up to do down the road.
Rajeev Edmonds
December 22nd, 2008,
12:43 pm
Excellent analysis of social media marketing and it’s power in helping businesses expand their reach. Stumbled…
Saad Kamal
December 22nd, 2008,
2:16 pm
This is a gr8 piece! Stumbled!
Stuntdubl Business Search Marketing Consulting » 9 Reasons You … | organicsocialmedia
December 22nd, 2008,
4:25 pm
[...] Continued here: Stuntdubl Business Search Marketing Consulting » 9 Reasons You … [...]
Lauren
December 22nd, 2008,
4:57 pm
This is absolutely the biggest issue I’m having with my company right now. Thank you for the info!
Give Your Business the Gift of Social Media « Mysolutionspot’s Weblog
December 22nd, 2008,
5:03 pm
[...] time to get yourself acquainted with the different aspects of social media in his recent blog post, “9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009.” Todd provides great insight into the world of social media, including why it’s important to [...]
Dave Peck
December 22nd, 2008,
7:26 pm
Great summary and points! You nailed it!
Gerald Weber SEM Group
December 22nd, 2008,
9:20 pm
I am so glad that I work only for myself so I don’t have to overcome that red tape. Social media is indeed the future of online marketing and how business will be done. It’s amazing and very exciting at the same time how this is changing the face of the internet as we know it every day. The new Google personalized search is very intriguing and sound like it will have a significant impact on SEOs.
Stuntdubl Business Search Marketing Consulting » 9 Reasons You … | thesocialmediasecrets
December 22nd, 2008,
11:44 pm
[...] Excerpt from: Stuntdubl Business Search Marketing Consulting » 9 Reasons You … [...]
unsure
December 23rd, 2008,
12:41 am
I’m unsure how to approach my manager (who I have a good relationship with) and not come across as being on these sites too much during work hours.
This might be more of a reason to suggest it early on, and then bring it up more.
It's Open » Blog Archive » Social marketing - the new search engine optimisation
December 23rd, 2008,
7:03 am
[...] is full of voices evangelising about the potential of social marketing these days. One is Todd Malicoat, an internet marketing consultant based in San [...]
Jeremy
December 23rd, 2008,
12:33 pm
Great article. I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately on Social Media. This is one of the clearest explanations with good reasons for motivation that I’ve read so far. thanks!
Trending Upward | Must Subscribe Blogs - December 2008
December 23rd, 2008,
6:42 pm
[...] 9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009 - This is a great post which states that social media is the new search engine optimization. Straight from the post: You’re banned from using the company email and internet until you read the Cluetrain, and can name at least 10 social media sites, and which 3 are likely to drive the most traffic. If you’re in a corporation that won’t listen, or change anything because of what lawyers say - you deserve your miserable cubicle dwelling existence for not standing up and pitching things better. You’re banned from using the company email and internet until you read the Cluetrain, and can name at least 10 social media sites, and which 3 are likely to drive the most traffic. If you’re in a corporation that won’t listen, or change anything because of what lawyers say - you deserve your miserable cubicle dwelling existence for not standing up and pitching things better. [...]
links for 2008-12-23 « Francis Anderson
December 23rd, 2008,
9:02 pm
[...] 9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009 Good article on Social Media: What it is and why you need it… (tags: socialmedia web2.0 web search socialnetworking seo social social-media) [...]
links for 2008-12-23 | Company K Media
December 23rd, 2008,
9:30 pm
[...] Stuntdubl Business Search Marketing Consulting » 9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009 (tags: marketing search media seo) [...]
David Risley
December 23rd, 2008,
11:15 pm
Wow, good stuff. And agree totally. We talk about this often in my mastermind group.
Jesse Liebman
December 24th, 2008,
1:33 am
I think it’s safe to say that 2009 is the year of the conversation because of all the points you just made above.
2009: The Year of The Conversation | Jesse Liebman
December 24th, 2008,
4:39 am
[...] brands engaging in social media, but will it become mainstream? Stuntdubl.com wrote a great post on 9 reasons you need social media marketing in 2009 while Junta42.com also ran a post covering an additional 42 social media predictions in 2009. If [...]
Christoph C. Cemper
December 24th, 2008,
8:00 am
Awesome post Todd! thanks for this.
Merry Xmas to You and your families!
Christoph
Jim Kukral Business Coaching
December 26th, 2008,
1:25 pm
Nice break out of good reasons. I like the photos with each one. I’ve found the biggest selling point is the $$$ savings. Time is something we can find, not money nowadays.
Daniel Massicotte
December 26th, 2008,
1:27 pm
I heard the PPC costs were actually going down.
Either way, the other 10 (with the bonus) are great points. Thanks.
Adam Hermsdorfer
December 28th, 2008,
3:16 pm
I really like your sequence on how to pitch social media internally. The basics must be covered before you start with social social media.
Dave
December 28th, 2008,
6:25 pm
With email delivery as a big problem, it’s a fantastic way to keep you audiance up to date without being caught in a spamfilter
Nice article !
Dave
Barb Chamberlain
December 29th, 2008,
12:57 am
Question: Did you give permission for this post to be copied verbatim at derek-richardson.com?
@BarbChamberlain
Scott
December 29th, 2008,
3:38 am
Hi Stunt
Excellent article.
Interestingly, we remain challenged selling social media marketing (”SMM”) to some of our skeptical clients who refuse to read the writing on the wall about the enormity of social media and the natural tendency of consumers to trust this mode of communication over the obsolete so-called “mainstream media” and SEO “linkbuilders.”
Those of us *not* in denial about SMM will have the last laugh (and the happiest “organic” customers).
Scott
A new year, a perfect time to start social media marketing — eClick Performance Blog
December 31st, 2008,
2:27 pm
[...] a very useful way to market your brand or business. Everyone is catching on. Stuntdubl offers their Nine Reasons Why, but these are probably the most important [...]
Links To Beat The Holiday Blues | This Month In SEO - 12/08 | TheVanBlog | Van SEO Design
December 31st, 2008,
6:57 pm
[...] 9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009 [...]
André T
January 2nd, 2009,
10:55 am
So super!
I will rad it again
Regards,
André T
Social Media Marketing News | Social Media Smack Talk
January 2nd, 2009,
9:50 pm
[...] 9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009 . Good post from Todd Malicoat aka Stuntdubl. His bonus point is so spot on. Social media is a way to reliably disperse your message to a group of people who want to hear what you have to say. [...]
You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009 « Simon Harrow
January 5th, 2009,
11:49 am
[...] Click here and don’t forget to comment, shout out and share. [...]
Philip Calvert
January 5th, 2009,
12:10 pm
An interesting article - thank you.
The future for a lot of business marketing lies very much within niche social networks, which ultimately will have far greater appeal for people within specific jobs or professions. Such niche networks are allowing people to interact and engage with each other at a much more meaningful level. What’s more, suppliers to specific professions can use niche networks to target their communications very much more accurately.
Financial services is a good example of niche online social networks in action. IFA Life for example is a financial social network where financial planners and wealth managers can network with each other, share best practice and debate industry issues etc online. Consumers also use IFA Life to find a financial planner in their area.
See http://www.ifalife.com
Thanks again.
Philip Calvert
Sales and Online Communication Skills Speaker
If You’re Not Utilizing Social Media You Should Be - Tips, Tricks, and Pointers — AgencyTool Blog
January 6th, 2009,
2:45 pm
[...] If you didn’t hop on board the Social Media train in 2008 or haven’t heard about it (living under a rock perhaps?) 2009 is your year! It’s a big deal trend, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Don’t believe me? Check out Todd Mailcoat’s post on Stuntdubl.com - 9 Reasons You NEED Social Media Marketing in 2009. [...]
Internet Marketing Tools and Tips by Steve Atwal
January 7th, 2009,
8:34 pm
Hi Stunt:
Great read. Excellent analysis and research. Thanks.
Steve
Paid links - no one likes a rat!
January 9th, 2009,
11:13 am
[...] as some of the straightest talking proponents of paid linking have recently stated that they have stopped the practice for fear of being [...]
ERock
January 16th, 2009,
5:14 pm
Some auto dealers are getting into the Soc. Media blitz, but with moderate to little success. I have seen more dealerships pop up with MySpace profiles and FaceBook fan pages than ever before. Some run their own blogs - Checkered Flag dealerships have had success with them, but most fall short because they get hit by the Google Spam gun, or because they do not update enough.
Niall
January 17th, 2009,
3:19 pm
I am always banging this drum and indeed have set up my whole blog around it. I think this is the way for all small companies to go as we dont have massive budgets and as there are so many of these cool free tools out there we might as well be making use of them
Excellent read, cheers
Mariah Kireta
January 19th, 2009,
5:22 pm
I love the raw truth of this article. Those companies not looking to grow their social media will quickly feel the dissolving of their overall marketing strategy. Great post!
Cheerleaders for Social Media « Erin Martin’s Weblog
January 21st, 2009,
6:24 pm
[...] 9 Reasons You Need Social Media Marketing in 2009 [...]
AJ Gerritson
January 22nd, 2009,
9:52 am
Stuntdubl,
You nailed this.. I am so glad I just stumbled on it. I am sharing this one..
@AJGerritson