Some examples of Social Media

Mike Bass Ford Facebook
I choose Mike Bass Ford Facebook for the reason that I was told last weekend by one of their sales staff to check the page for the latest deals on used vehicles. I was shocked when I got their to realize that it had been over a week since their page was last updated. Which as a consumer that does all my research on the web first, this instantly turned me off on their credibility. Only one thing is worse than a outdated website and that is a social media site that has been untouched for more than a couple of days.

Michigan State Spartans Twitter

This is what I was previously talking about Twitter being a great source for sports updates. My brother is the wrestling coach at MSU, and getting the Athletic Twitter feeds is just as good as being at an athletic event. And they even sneak in their advertisements, which are obviously there but not distracting or overbearing. A GREAT use of a social media to keep loyal fans in the "now"!

In these two examples, obviously the MSU site will keep me coming back because of their accuracy and they are always on top of things. I will check back to Bass Ford over the next week to see if what the sales guy had told me ever pops up on there, otherwise, I'll probably just look elsewhere. So as you can see, here are two great examples of how social media was extremely effective and the complete opposite.

What I stumbled across.........

After looking through dozens of internet sources about social media marketing, it is clear that the power of technology is obviously endless. One of the coolest things that I came across is that you can preschedule your posts on multiple social media outlets to post at the same time. This to me is so convenient, especially consider the "rush rush" business world we live. Many businesses or organizations still do not have a dedicated person or employee to always solely take care of marketing and social media marketing. Again, this feature allows the person who takes care of this to schedule posts to come out when needed.

Another key thing I found especially interesting is that you really have to research which social media sight is right for you and the purpose you are using it for. For example, it has become very common for college athletics to use Twitter, because it's a quick and easy way of updates scores, stats, etc. Many professional musicians/bands tend to lean the Facebook direction because it's quite easy to load up the music and photos, and it seems like a public forum that most "fans" have gravitated towards following their favorite entertainer. For a business such as a auto dealership, almost any of the social media sites can be utilized, due to people really aren't sitting by their phones waiting for the next post from Mike Bass Ford. They're merely read the posts when they come across them, waiting for promotional deals or upcoming events.

One of the major key points I took from all the different sites I research were that, we are in a technological age, things move extremely quick. Therefore, to properly utilize social media and keep up with your competitors or rather set trends, you need to be on top of things, pre plan, and make sure your posts are reliable and accurate information. If for some reason your business posts bad information and you have a large amount of followers, this will be exploited, reposted, and very much bad publicity for you and your business. You have to be accurate!

Social Media Marketing Links

Social Media Marketing: A Small Business Primer



Social Media Marketing



Social Media Pathyways



Social Media Marketing Beginner's Guide