Nowadays it seems that more and more companies are directing consumers to their social media pages rather than their websites. This can be seen in magazine ads, newspapers and even in Super Bowl commercials. So if all these mega-corporations are seeing value in social media does that mean we should spend all of our focus there too and forgot our websites?
Let’s take a look at some of the factors of the most popular social media channels to see how they are stealing the show.
Quick and Easy Information Dissemination
The one thing that Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest have right is that they prey on our need for instant gratification. These sites, unlike our websites, provide us with tiny bursts of information like pictures, videos and comments. These short-lived content items are able to quickly capture our short attention spans and are a preferred option over long-winded webpages that make us sit through more than we have cared to read since high school.
Forget the Pocket Protecting IT Guy
Children, baby boomers and grandmas can all enjoy the simple functionality that is social media. Do you think granny could learn to write HTML code after a long day of bocce? With social media we no longer need to develop new webpages and those business owners with a limited budget may feel better off posting on their social media accounts than spending the money to update their sites.
Consumer Interaction
The “like” button, the cute bird, the pin bookmark; these are all very easy ways to connect things we like with the people we know. Businesses know that staying in front of consumers is made a little bit easier with these social sharing buttons. Why spend money on marketing a product or service through your site when your fans can do it for you?
Don’t Forget your Roots
Although social media websites and applications like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn have made it a little bit easier to connect, people seem to forget where we their roots come from. All of these links, pictures, videos, comments and discussions are taking place at the website before being shared elsewhere. The website is the mother of all these applications and should be used in collaboration with social media. Truth is social media is still very difficult to measure in terms of conversions and revenues. Most of the real deal-making happens through the website as people have learned to trust them in terms of checking-out, scheduling appointments, educating themselves or learning more about the companies they will eventually do business with. Also, search engines tend to deliver results from websites and not from social media feeds giving websites an additional nudge in terms of interfacing with new consumers.
It’s not enough
Social media alone cannot be the end-all-be-all for online marketing but it is an increasingly powerful tool for many. Any business that can successfully integrate the two mediums will have the best chance of converting all those thumbs-up into the real reason we are in business- money.
Thanks for reading,
