Isn't it amazing how quickly social media has become the new thing? Once considered to be only part of the computer geek's culture, social media has now gone main stream. Over the past decade social "everything" has permeated almost every aspect of our lives. From gaming, to networking, to media is this just another passing fad? I don't think so.

While still in its infancy, social media is no longer a new concept. It has become such an integral part of our lives. Ironically, many business owners and decision makers still fail to understand the ramifications of such an over site. Ned Cavric, one of the top compensations lawyers at best essay writing service has recently been working to adopt social media into his marketing campaigns. From recent conversations with him, he has said that without an online presence, it remains extremely difficult tom compete. 

The main ways that social media and SEO are helping his business are primarily 

Connecting with clients 

Visibility

Self-Promotion

While Ned may be one of the early adopters, 56% of all businesses still do not embraced social media as part of their overall marketing efforts. This mistake could seriously be costing them money. Through various surveys on research, we have discovered four solid arguments for have a social media marketing strategy.

New Customer Acquisition: With regards to small business owners, more than half of them report that they have gained new customers through social media. Also reported that the majority of new customers have come from Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Fans Are Most Likely To Buy: More than 64 percent of Twitter users and just over half of Facebook users are likely to be repeat buyers from brands they follow.

For its ROI, Social Media Is Inexpensive: Just over 50% of those using social media are paying less that $100 per month on their social media efforts.

Powerful Word of Mouth Advertising: Statistical evidence is showing that if they can just reach 20 rabid fans, they can create a massive online community. Connecting with 20 people is easily within the scope of most small businesses.

When we take a step back and look at where people are spending their time, businesses begin to see that social media is not something that can be ignored. Marketing has always been used to reach the masses. Prior to the internet, marketing was generally considered a one way communication. Now we are just begging to realize that much of the time people spend on social media is in the pre-commerce phase of decision making. People are reading feedback from consumers. They are researching the products. Pre-sales they are looking for coupons and promotions for the products and services. After the sale, they are actively posting positive and negative reviews, thus the sales cycle begins again. 

So ultimately the question is: why are the other 56% business owners avoiding the use of social media?

The simple answer may be that they just do not recognize the power of social media. Perhaps they have not seen how social media has the power to affect behavior and influence people. For whatever reason, they still believe that social media is a passing fad and thus they have overlooked it for the older more established business models. 

So I ask you, are you part of the group that gets it? With the social aspect of marketing are you willing to embrace that this is how business is being conducted today or are you hoping that social media is just another passing fad?