What social media networking can do for your business promotion

Social media networking has become the hot new trend in marketing. You can use these online networks to quickly spread the word, about your company and what your product or service can do, for your potential customers. Best of all this type of marketing is costs very little and only requires the time and effort necessary, for the upkeep. Whether you choose to let people know about you via Twitter, have a Facebook page with or without a blog, or choose a combination of social media networking, it can be an instrumental part of your marketing mix. Savvy business owners understand that social media networking can take their marketing to a new level.

• It allows you to see what your customers are saying about your business-A key component of marketing, is being able to position your product or service, to match your target market's needs. You can use social media networking to get an inside look at what is being said about your business, and what kind of reputation that you have. Browsing quickly through Yelp, Facebook and Twitter can give you the inside scoop on what your customers are looking for, how they feel about you and more importantly if they are recommending your to others.
• It allows you to quickly respond to customer problems and issues-Experienced business owners will tell you that not matter how good and how complete your marketing program is an unhappy customer can quickly undo all of your positive marketing efforts. However, you can use your social media network to quickly resolve issues with unhappy or less then satisfied customers. For example, the owners of a hardware store saw an angry Twitter update, from a customer who had bought a tool that broke after one use. The owner was able to quickly respond to the Twitter update and resolve the problem. This was highly beneficial since it all occurred after stores hours. By being able to resolve the problem he prevented negative customer feedback and possible damage to his business promotion plan.
• It allows you to keep customers informed of what your business is doing-There is a variety of ways that you can do this. Recently a new wave of mobile businesses has come to the forefront in many industries. Whether you are looking for the best gelato, Korean food, or dog groomer you can check Twitter, for their latest location. Best of all giving a real-time location can help increase demand, when customers are able to find you in advance. And more sales are the ultimate results of a good marketing whether online or offline.
• It allows you to access a wider potential target market-Social media networking can help you find those customers who could benefit, from what your company offers, but they may not be aware of you. Because of the sheer numbers of those using social media networking, your marketing stands a much better chance of being accessed, by a larger amount of potential customers. Using a keyword search on Twitter has been helping many companies reach out to potential customers.
• It allows you to target in closer to your potential customers-One of the major problems with some forms of traditional marketing, is that they have a shotgun approach. This means that the company pays a great deal for direct mailings, advertising, or print media and just has to hope for the best. However, there are several different types of social media networks that will allow businesses to run ads to attract a specific group of customers. Both Facebook and MySpace will do this based on what information is included in their profiles.