Virtual Platform: Playing Important Role through Various Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms can act as a very powerful tool to promote a product or service. Not only can this people residing in different parts of the world share precious information, ideas and thoughts with each other. Social media is faster than any other form of communication. It has a very far reaching effect. As it operates on the internet, it is sometimes referred to as a virtual platform.

Most of the people wonder why they need a social media platform or tool that is most effective. If you don't use a social media platform that is effective, your business or marketing campaign won't work well. One of the greatest features of social media is that it is capable of spreading your business like wild fire. Many people fail to use the far reaching powers of this wonderful platform in an effective manner. But virtual platform plays a very important role in expanding a business.

Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are some of the most popular social media & networking sites. They not only help people connect to their friends and other people, but also help them to build a strong relationship with their target audience. Due to this reason companies and businesses organizations have started using this virtual platform to reach greater number of customers and expand their businesses.

Some ways by which a person or organization can use this virtual platform effectively:

•    It should be always remembered that things not going to work if someone simply opens up an account in a social network platform. The business or person has to continuously keep on posting information about the product or service. This will help retain the audience. Their mind will be also occupied with the thought of the product or service. If the audience does not get new content regularly, they will start luring away. If the marketer does not have time to do all this things, he can employ a social media consultant or even employ someone to do it for him.
•    The next thing that should be done to use the virtual platform effectively is to increase the number of followers. Adding new and fresh contents is not everything. If the network has fewer followers the results will degrade soon. The results are directly dependent on the number of followers.
•    The social media account for personal and business purpose should be always separate. No one wants to share personal information with strangers. On the other hand a business account should be accessible by the public in order to gain maximum exposure. The businesses account should be always given a professional look.
•    It is necessary to visit the business page daily. This can done using some tools like Hoot suite or Tweet Deck. These tools help a person manage several accounts simultaneously. One of the greatest advantages of using these tools is that there is no need of signing in and signing out several times. This will help the person in saving a lot of valuable time and use it in a better way.

Why Social Media is Need Of The Hour

Social Media has become a most popular “technical jargon” these days. The combination word connects Social life with media (marketing), which includes activities and technologies that enable the people to share their ideas and experiences with each other. People also get a lot of information from these social media sites. The actual meaning that lies behind the term is that “It is a systematic process of integrating social interaction with technology”. It also involves words, audio, pictures and video which are constructed in a proper manner. This can be appropriately termed as UGC or user generated content. The audio and video that are found in YouTube is an example of user generated content.

Social Media exists in various forms. It includes videos, images, blogs, online forums and wikis. Some of the technologies that lie behind social media are listed below:

•    Social Networks              (Facebook, Google Plus)
•    Blogging                (Word Press, Blogger, Tumblr)
•    Micro Blogging            (Twitter, Google Buzz)
•    Photo sharing                (Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr)
•    Instant Messengers            (Yahoo, G talk, MSN, Whatapp, BBM)
•    Video sharing                (YouTube, Metacafe )

The list can take few pages if we mention each and every portal of Social Media will be a big one if every technology is mentioned. The list of applications of social media will also be a big one. Facebook and MySpace are social networking sites, Flickr is used for sharing photos while YouTube enables a person to share videos effectively and Twitter facilitates networking and micro-blogging.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Another term that occupies a significant part of Social Media is Social Media Marketing. It uses the power of social media network to promote a service, content or product. One thing that makes SMM different from traditional marketing is that the marketer has to participate in a conversation with the audience. Social media can help you make a strong position in the marketplace if used effectively.

Many marketing professionals are not much aware about social media marketing because they are unable to control the social networks. If a person masters the basics of SMM, he can use its power for corporate branding or reputation management.

Why is social media becoming so popular?

Social media enables a person to reach out and connect to a large number of people with the help of technology. New features are added to social media everyday making it more and more powerful. It can help a start up business to reach a vast audience in no time. The cost incurred in doing the publicity is also very nominal.

Some factors that one must keep in mind while using social media to reach target audience:

•    One should always remember that the web is all about people. One should understand the preference, behavior and language of the people. One should keep an eye on the favorite online hangouts of the people.
•    Before going for social media marketing one must clearly decide whether he/she is going for testing the product or its marketing. One should clearly define the motive behind the actions.
•    One should also make an idea about the outcomes and what target he is looking forward to achieve.
•    One should also make sure about the technology he is going to use for the social media marketing.