Articles: Hashtag Your Business
Date Added: 09/07/2013 @ 6:04pm
Love it or hate it, the social network is here to stay.
Over the weekend, the social media world was overcome with Wimbledon fever as British users began to remember what it is that they loved about the sport, something that they haven’t been able to do since the 1930s, thanks to a certain Andy Murray.
According to the BBC, some 6.6 million comments were tweeted on Twitter on the topic during the 2 week championship. So, what is it about Tweeting that is engaging people?
On the face of it, it’s such a simple idea. Allow people to post quick updates about whatever it is they are doing and share them with their friends, family and people they once saw walking around Tesco at 3am and were curious about…
Of course, the ego boost that people get from knowing that several thousand people care about what colour socks you might be wearing that morning probably has something to do with it too.
So why is it that businesses are getting in on the act? Well, traditional advertising is becoming less effective as people learn to block or ignore adverts. We’re becoming advert-blind.
On web pages, for example, content that even looks like it might be an advert is instantly ignored. This is bad news for advertisers.
So when the chance comes to directly communicate with their customers came up, they jumped at the chance! It’s a way of reminding customers that their brand exists, without even having to advertise anything.
Take the hugely popular Now That’s What I Call Music series, for example. Their Facebook wall is updated once or twice a week, sometimes unveiling the new album cover, then the playlist, then getting feedback on the new album.
In the past, market research had to be done with focus groups, advertising had to be done on TV, radio and in magazines – but now fans sign up voluntarily to get updates.
Of course, it can be mis-used. See my article: Does Your Business Need Facebook for more on this topic.
So, in short, if you aren’t using social media to promote your business, you should be.