According to a recent EMarketer report, nearly 79% of Internet Retailers had a Facebook profile, followed by 69% on Twitter and 59% using both.
The report goes on to add that fewer than half of these retailers promoted their involvement in the social media sites in their e-newsletters and only 30% mentioned it on their websites?
What’s going on here?
I’m going to take a guess and say that online retailers are extremely nervous that they’ll be taken seriously if their profiles or fan pages are mixed in with some of the trash we all inevitably find on Facebook. Perhaps another reason has to do with being nervous to promote a low follower count?
Repeat after me: It’s Okay. You won’t know unless you try.
I think most e-commerce retailers are nervous that they’ll be met with unfavorable results if they put themselves out there. Need I remind you that you probably had the same doubts when you launched your site?
There are more people using Facebook and Twitter these days than we know what to do with. Social Media can be viral — in a good way &mmdash; you just need to promote it.
If you’re not sure how to promote your Facebook or Twitter presence all you need at first is a link in your electronic mailings. You can graduate up to widgets and graphics if you feel comfortable. The trick is to get yourself out there!