Author Archives: Sookie Shuen

Social research – listen to the demand

Research is still as important as ever. But now it’s much easier to do.  You no longer need to plan and execute surveys or events. One of the benefits of digital marketing is that you can simply monitor the conversation. Using clients for Twitter, Facebook forums or your own Q&A/FAQ section on your site, you can gain real-time results and at a far lower cost than that of traditional surveys.

This is a well-known concept. The costs involved with using this business strategy, while not non-existent, are certainly far lower than traditional methods. You no longer need multiple departments – making it cheaper. You no longer need to create huge advertising campaigns for minimal returns – making it cheaper. In addition, the tools you need to monitor conversations is free.

The social networks are here

The reason that social media marketing is so successful in today’s business environment is, as already outlined, down to the consumer mindset, rather than business strategists. Since the internet (and digital marketing in general) became common place, people have been working hard to avoid unwanted adverts. Things such as popup blockers and spam filters are rendering direct online advertising campaigns (such as email marketing) costly and useless.

The alternative is to identify what people are doing online, and adapt a business strategy to fit in with it, rather than sitting outside it. Fortunately, this isn’t hard to achieve.  The key is to take a closer look at what makes social media so popular.