Today online users spend approximately 27% of their time on social media sites. The number of people who have a Facebook account is set at 85% of all online users and 49% of people have an active Twitter account. Social Media is responsible for doubling the number of marketing leads when compared to traditional methods such as trade shows, direct mail and telemarketing.

How does this affect you as a marketer? Well people love to share and they enjoy sharing information about the things they have purchased and used. Who doesn’t go around telling their friends to go see a great movie? This concept now applies to anyone who is selling products or services both online and offline.
Amazon has a huge influence on what products people buy by allowing their customers to leave reviews and feedback on their purchases. The majority of people will read through these comments and allow it to influence their buying decision.

This same principle applies to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. When people are sharing, liking and tweeting about great products manufacturers will enjoy a jump in sales. The reverse is true if a product gets a bad review sales will slump. So which end of the spectrum do you want to be on?

It is important for anyone selling products or offering a service today to have social media accounts. This way you can allow customers to post and share feedback and comments about your products. By offering high quality products and providing great customer service via social media you can easily brand your products and your company online.

Take a look at Twitter and see how active it becomes when people start retweeting about events that are making news. While your products may not have such a huge impact, Twitter users can help spread the news about what you are selling and your customer’s experiences.

If you haven’t given much thought to using sites like Facebook and Twitter you really should start incorporating them into your marketing efforts. After all they are free to use and once set up you can hire an assistant to manage them for you if you don’t have the time yourself.

Remember that people today love to do research online for almost anything they plan on buying or using. If your company shows up in the search results you will see an increase in new customers.