Does Social Media Really, Really work??

Does Social Media Really Work??

What's Hot & What's Not in Social Media

Still undecided on the value of social media marketing for your short sales andreal estate related activities? If so, it's time to face the facts. Social mediamarketing is not just another fad but rather the hottest trend in years. 

Consider these recent findings published by the Social Media Examiner report:

More than 50 percent of marketing experts use social media at least an hour ormore each day.  Over 30 percent spend more than 2 hours per day.Roughly 85 percent of marketing experts report business exposure as the primary purpose behind the adoption of social media marketing by their company.

Over 60 percent of respondents reported increased traffic. More than 50 percent used social media marketing to build new business partnerships.

What's Hot?

Facebook is the non-disputed leader in the social media marketing arena with more than 85 percent of respondents planning to increase their current level of Facebook activity in the coming year. However, of those using social media marketing more than 65 percent plan on increasing their use of blogs, YouTube,Twitter and Linkedin.

What's Not?

Surprisingly, 80 percent of respondents indicated they do not plan to use MySpace or will actually reduce their current marketing campaign via this venue in the coming year. Rumors that MySpace has reached maximum growth may become a self-fulfilling prophecy as marketing experts focus attention on the most profitable aspects of their current social media activities.

Take Away

By definition, successful social media marketing is one area where you literally want to follow the crowd. Research conducted by social media marketing firms indicated that the biggest "bang for the buck" comes from Facebook. Despite the superficial similarities, the stagnation phase of MySpace and mass exodus makes it less appealing for long term investment.

When comparing the marketing benefits of Facebook to Twitter, Facebook once again came out the clear leader. According to the report, the level of social interaction on Twitter is significantly less than that of Facebook as is the long term availability of published data. However, for expedient news and information services, Twitter was a clear leader. Learn how to use each of these sites in their maximum capacity for best results and sign up for my fan page: