Social Media: News to Use ~ How You Can Use Social Media Sites for Success
it has become increasingly obvious that social media is the best way to market online because it is a blending of technology and social interaction. Implementing a social media marketing strategy is the key to a successful marketing campaign.
Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, You Tube, Pinterest and Google + are now considered the best social media sites to use in your social media marketing plan. Marketing on these social media sites varies in method, but each site has their own unique value. Targeting your key online audience and demographic is vital to your online marketing success.
Facebook offers the use of free business web pages called fan pages where compelling content can be used to help brand your product. The new Facebook Shop application is proof that social networks are emerging as channels for branded marketing. You can feed your post stream to Twitter via Facebook applications. It is not suggested to use your Facebook profile to sell your product. Personal profiles by definition contain personal information about yourself, your family and close friends. Your Fan Page should be a 70/30 mix of business (70) and inspiration (30) in the form of articles, quotes, upbeat stories, photos and videos.
Twitter is difficult to master but can create large amounts of indirect business leads that you can target based upon the use of advanced research tools. The key is to only follow relevant people within your market and providing added value service. Figuring out the best strategy is vital to your success and it does require a large amount of loyal followers to prove worthwhile. You can build your following quickly but be careful to always stay involved in the online community that you have targeted.
LinkedIn is the most trusted source among professional individuals and is the best for high quality leads. This is the site that will provide the best opportunity to build your credibility. Make sure to join and participate in groups so that when you are ready, you can share your product to everyone in those groups. You can reach your target audience by showing that you are a proactive business with a professional outlook.
You Tube is one of the most visited sites on the internet by millions of users every day! Create your own You Tube channel to build subscribers. Create a hub by linking your website to your Facebook fan page, Twitter profile, Linked In profile and You Tube channel.Viral marketing is created through the use of networking in social bookmarking, video (You Tube) and photo sharing websites. Create a buzz related to your online business by creating contests and surveys.
Pinterest is the visual way to share your ideas, likes, products and services. It gives us that wonderful thing like show and tell that we did as children, the same way we played with toys in roles, You show the world what your interests are and share what you have to offer.
Social Media Optimization (SEO) and attracting online traffic to your website is key but is not limited to marketing and brand building. Today’s intelligent businesses are integrating social media participation into all aspects of their organization such as recruiting and customer satisfaction.
Day to day maintenance of your social media sites can be time consuming and involved, but is very important to your success. There are tools such as Hootsuite and Social Oomph that are proving to be an asset. In the field of Social Media Strategy, we use these tools daily to assist clients, but prefer, in business, to use more hands on strategy and utilize these tools in addition to the personal touch.
Building your brand trust online is the most difficult thing to achieve but once you start to receive Likes on Facebook, mentions and retweets on Twitter; referrals on LinkedIn and subscriptions to your You Tube channel, Sharing of your Pinterest Pics, all directed toward your website (your hub); Continue with this the strategy and soon you will be on the path to success.
