Social media marketing is a trend, not a fad. But, most small to medium-sized businesses have yet to participate fully and enthusiastically.

Social media marketing is here to stay. Because you want your Business to be here for the long haul as well, you need to move now. Not next week. Not next month. But now.

Here are the six reasons that dictate your need to begin social media marketing now:

1. Your customers are using it to make buying decisions. Millions of web users, both in the business to consumer and business-to-business markets, are reading blogs and listening to podcasts daily.

2. Smart news organizations are with the social media program. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal and almost certainly your local newspaper have made social media fundamental to how they learn and how they report.

3. Most small and medium-sized companies are still not using it. You won’t always have the chance to get the jump on your competition. Imagine yourself back in the early days of TV and you were the first car dealer, furniture store or air conditioning company to run local advertising opposite I Love Lucy or the Lone Ranger. You would have demolished the competition.

4. Your smartest competitors are using it. You’re almost certainly paying attention to your smartest competition. I’d be surprised if a high percentage of them are not at least putting a toe into the social media waters. Organizations as diverse as law firms, interior designers, real estate agents, and roofing companies are using blogs, podcasts, videos, and user communities such as Facebook to demonstrate their expertise and thought leadership.

5. It can be your most cost-effective marketing strategy. The required financial investment in creating a blog, for example, can be very low.

6. Your old-style marketing is less and less effective. Because buyer behavior has changed, you cannot expect traditional advertising alone to drive buyers to your business as it did a decade ago. You may certainly want to use it to draw them to your online home. That’s where you can prove to prospective customers that you are a reliable supplier who can be trusted, based on your knowledge and understanding of your their problems.

Summing up

You may still think it’s risky or unproductive to make an investment in core social media components such as blogs, videos, podcasts or communities such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. The real risk is in waiting too long and being left in the dust. After all, some very smart marketers have already proven the power of these online tools.

To be long-term successful, you MUST have a online marketing system for your Business.  I love mine because it offers total training in the skills of working with people, so that you get better and better and your people can plug into exactly the same system, making it far easier for you to help them.

If you need to build your business or are considering a new career, contact me. We want you to see how far we will go to help assure your success. Never forget the fact, my success will always depend on your success. Take action and get started Today!! Just go to Edge Marketing System and fill in the information. Or you can email me at jimburcham44@gmail.com or call me at 734-453-9640.