Social media is essential for marketing success in the current business world. Your company may not even be taken seriously without a presence on the big four social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. However, simply maintaining social media accounts for your business is not sufficient. Winning social media marketing requires commitment, strategy, deep industry insight, genuine engagement and clever social content curation. Producing a great deal of original, highly shareable content, genuinely and consistently conversing with industry influencers and building a significant social following could garner you a reputation as a thought leader and amplified exposure and brand recognition for your company.eac

 

With the current marketing landscape, it is critical to invest the necessary time and resources for building and maintaining a top-notch social presence for your company. Strategic social media marketing calls for serious dedication and organization. There are a wide variety of social resources and tools, which can streamline social content curation—social sharing—and the promotion of your original content on all your social networks, including HootSuite, Klout and Topsy. Start taking advantage of social media management tools; they can save you time and significantly increase the ROI of your content and your social reach.

 

Social media is here to stay, and its influence continues to rise. If you have not already gone social, now is the time to adapt. Neglect social media marketing at your own peril. Excellent content creation is the foundation of high-quality social media marketing. Without top-notch, original content, social media success will elude you. Engage a wide social audience to dramatically increase website traffic and social lead generation and conversion. If you are still on the fence about the value of social media, these new statistics from HubSpot should help sway you:

 

17 New Social Media Statistics

 

1. 27% of total US internet time is spent on social networking sites.

 

2. 15% of total US mobile internet time is spent on social networking sites.

 

3. Social media produces nearly double the marketing leads of trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail or PPC.

 

4. Social lead conversion rates are 13% higher than the average lead conversion rate.

 

5. 21% of marketers say that social media has become more important to their company over the past 6 months.

 

6. 74% of all marketers say Facebook is important to their lead generation strategies.

 

7. Companies that generate more than 1,000 Facebook likes also get close to 1,400 website visits daily.

 

8. 52% of all marketers have found a customer through Facebook in 2013 so far.

 

9. On Facebook, brand posts achieve 50% of their reach within 30 minutes.

 

10. 85% of Facebook fans of brands recommend them to others, compared to 60% of average users.

 

11. 43% of all marketers have found a customer on LinkedIn in 2013 so far.

 

12. 36% of all marketers have found a customer on Twitter in 2013 so far.

 

13. 59% of Twitter users have visited B2B tech brand sites, compared to only 40% of average internet users.

 

14. 25% of consumers who complain about products on Facebook or Twitter expect a response within an hour.

 

15. Women (48%) are more likely than men (43%) to regularly check out a brand's social page.

 

16. 23% of marketers are investing in blogging and social media this year—a 9% annual increase.

 

17. Approximately 46% of online users rely on social media, when they make a buying decision.

 

The social media landscape is constantly evolving. Stay informed, and do not let your business stagnate or lose value. Smart social strategy, dedication and the right knowledge and tools can save your company from getting left behind. Social influence and business success are within your reach. Go social now.