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Twitter, Facebook, YouTube: Wherever you go, you’ll find people discussing their activities on these Web sites ad infinitum. Those social media tools, and others like them, have become a major part of people’s lives and are fast becoming the chief method of reaching and connecting with people. These tools are also viral in nature, which means that it is extremely easy to share information you like with other people using these sites. These are the main reasons why these tools are also becoming indispensable for marketers and business owners and why social media marketing is all over the place today.

Social media marketing simply means using social networking tools to market your business and build and establish its brand. Though social networking tools were initially used by people for personal networking and socializing, they are now increasingly being used for promotion as well. But there are a couple of things you should keep in mind before you take the plunge.

• The first and foremost thing you have to do is to ensure that you are willing to commit the time and energy to regularly update your blog, Twitter, Facebook or whatever other tool you are using. Creating an account on a social networking site and not updating it regularly is worse than not creating an account at all.

• Limit conversations about yourself. Though this might seem like a paradox considering that you want to promote your business, you have to remember that people have short attention spans that tend to get shorter if the content does not interest them. The best thing to do is to provide regular information about a specific topic or about the industry that your business is based in.

• Don’t get into it blindly just because others are doing it. Make sure you have a definite set of goals before you start. Plan every step and plan the various ways you can make the information on your various pages as interesting as possible.

• Contribute quality content. Posting information just because you have some does not work. Readers can sense when you actually mean something and when you are doing something just for the heck of it. To make it easier for you, choose a topic that interests you or that you are passionate about.

• Social networking tools are very informal in nature. So whatever you write does not have to be formal or stiff. In fact, it will help your business more if your posts and videos are laid-back and fun. This is your chance to show people that owning a business does not automatically equal being stuffy.

• Try to use as many social networking tools as possible. The more exposure your business gets, the better for you. So make use of blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, podcasts and anything else you can think of. Just remember to update them regularly. If you don’t have the time to personally do it, you can hire someone to do it for you. Jut make sure that you hire someone who is extremely knowledgeable about them.

• Contribute to other people’s blogs. Make comments for their posts either offering some advice or tips on something they have written or just providing some new information.

• Once you have everything in place, extensively promote your YouTube videos, your blog posts or your podcasts on social bookmarking sites such as Technorati (for blog posts), Digg, or StumbleUpon.

You have to be very careful while using social networks because if your plans backfire, then the bad publicity you get will be greater than any good publicity you might have received if all had gone well. As mentioned above, social networking tools are viral in nature. You know the old saying, “bad news spreads faster than good news.” You can be sure that any fiasco by your business will reach thousands of people within minutes. For example, when KFC started their line of grilled chicken, they used online coupons to promote it. Each coupon allowed the holder to get two pieces of free grilled chicken, two sides and a biscuit over a two-day period. KFC made use of Oprah to promote the coupons but what could have been PR gold turned into a disaster. The offer made KFC the No. 1 topic on Twitter and it was talked about on blogs everywhere – but there was so much demand that the company was unable to hold up their side of the bargain. So the chain had to end the promotion and give the customers a rain check. Saying that the customers were unhappy would be an understatement! KFC could have avoided this if they had had more control over their promotion and a stronger PR team.

Having said that, utilizing only social networking tools to build your business and brand is also a bad idea. You should have an entire marketing campaign to publicize your business, which should include more traditional media such as T.V and newspaper ads, radio spots, newsletters and promotional giveaways. And  sometimes social networking tools, or the entire concept of social media marketing, may be wrong for your business. For example, if your business caters to a niche audience that you know for sure are not avid users of these tools, then using these tools will not make much difference to your business. In such cases, you will be better off using more traditional approaches that you know would reach your audience. The key to social media marketing is to fully understand how it works and then to determine how to best make it work for you.

]]> http://www.streamlinemedia.net/an-intro-to-social-media-marketing-2.html/feed 0 http://www.streamlinemedia.net/8-rules-for-social-media-optimization-2.html http://www.streamlinemedia.net/8-rules-for-social-media-optimization-2.html#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:24:57 +0000 admin http://www.nailaintan.co.cc/8-rules-for-social-media-optimization.html

Social media has come to play an incredibly important role in the marketing campaigns of a variety of different businesses. Here are 8 rules of social media optimization that you must follow to ensure that you maximize the results of your social media marketing campaign.

1. Increase Your Website’s Linkability

The problem with a lot of websites is that they are static. Their content remains the same and nothing on the site is updated on a regular basis. Increasing the linkability of your site is one of the first and most important steps of social media optimization and SEO. The easiest way to get started with this is by adding a blog to your site and updating it regularly.

2. Develop a Clear Social Media Optimization Strategy

All marketing campaigns have a strategy behind them and SMO is no different. Define your objectives and set goals that will help you reach your desired outcome, whether that is credibility, a boost in reputation, site traffic, or increased conversions. One of the biggest mistakes that many companies make is not approaching SMO with clear goals or a strategy.

3. Stay Fresh

Don’t be afraid to be different in social media. The social media landscape is constantly morphing and the companies that dare to be unique are the ones that end up with the most successful SMO campaigns and getting national PR. Keep up with all the new tools and products that pop up to stay on top of your game.

4. Make It Easy for Readers to Tag and Bookmark

When you add features like the “add to del.icio.us” and the “Retweet” buttons to your content, it serves as a direct reminder for people to share your content. Many bloggers receive a 100% increase in retweets when they add the button. When a lot of people tweet or Digg your content, you get a lot of social proofing. Nonetheless, you don’t necessarily have to make it easier for people to tag and bookmark since great content will be shared no matter what.

5. Help People for Nothing in Return (Yet)

To put it simply, in social media, you have to give value to get value. You can pass along links that would help someone resolve an issue or give them advice if they need it. Eventually, people will come to see you as a source of information. This will lead them to link to your site or tag it as being an authoritative site in your niche, gradually boosting your reputation and improving your search engine ranking.

6. Participate Fully in the Community

Participation is the core of social media. Social media is a two-way street. You must create awareness of your brand and spread your message by participating in social media outlets on a regular basis. Your reputation and message will spread faster and further if you actively participate.

7. Know Your Target Audience

In order to make content and market ideas that are compelling to your target audience, you have to know them well. You have to realize that you can’t appeal to everyone. That’s why it’s important to know who your main audience is so you can tweak your messages to appeal to them. In order to learn who your audience is, you have to become a member of the community yourself.

8. Be authentic

Social media users are becoming more and more skilled at spotting fakers so to avoid being shunned and prevent damage from being done to your reputation, be authentic in your interactions.

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Social media networks have a big effect in internet marketing. Many online marketers know just how powerful these channels are and beneficial to their cause. So just what’s the role of social media networks to online marketing? In a nutshell, social media networks allow marketers to personalize their brand by communicating with peers, customers and prospects. This revolutionary way to interacting in a virtual platform has helped many small marketers to launch their business properly. But there are some serious no-nos you should know about.

Not interacting 

Social media (keyword: social) are teeming with diverse communities and individual groups all interested in various and specific set of topics. If you’re using these networks as your internet marketing strategy, plain registering, launching and letting everything takes its course simply won’t cut it. Interaction is required and the crux of social media networks. If you concentrate too much on promotion and getting sales, you’re potential customers will likely see your efforts as selfish. Take some to know others and build a lasting, trustworthy relationship with them. 

Being inconsistent 

One of the costliest mistakes marketers make with social media internet marketing is inconsistency. Customers and potential clients are privy to your dedication to the group. If you start showing some signs of irregularities, they’ll quickly lose interest. Try to be active as much as you can. Not only will this help improve your self-esteem as a marketer but get to know your peers and customers better. 

Spamming 

Spamming has never been okay in the web. If you can get your ideas, products and services across effectively once, that would be great. Twice is okay. Thrice is still fine; but more than that is spamming. This sort of illicit activity is prevalent in social media networks, and you should be careful not line yourself with the offenders. Marketing shouldn’t be forced. Before sending any promotion or information to your potential customers, make sure they asked for it first. 

Hoping to be followed immediately 

The key in successful social media internet marketing is networking. If you’re just starting out, don’t expect everyone to follow you immediately. You must start a network from which you could benefit from. In short, before you become a leader, you should follow first. Since interaction is important in these sorts of channels, you should enter in the hopes of flying solo. You must be a follower first before your customers can follow you. You can even widen your network if you start following others. 

Mark Michael Ferrer 

Internet Marketing

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