Posts Tagged ‘social media’
Social Media Marketing – Why You Must Start Now
When you take the right steps to promote your website through basic social media channels, you’re tapping into a rather powerful force that can earn you links and tons of traffic. This practice is known in the online world more formally as social media marketing.
The truth about social media marketing is that there simply isn’t a better method for producing large numbers of hits without spending money – or at least a lot of it. It doesn’t matter whether you sell products or services or just create content and enjoy some ad revenue, social media marking is a very viable method that will make a site flourish over time if it’s used correctly.
People that ignore the importance of social media marketing tend to come in three types – people who know nothing about the vehicle, people who don’t know how to use it and those who think there is no value in its use. The benefits of viral marketing, however, can disprove the latter class of people rather quickly.
The simple truth is that creating link baits and coming up with methods to gain popularity on social media sites can deliver big benefits, including:
* Traffic. These sites tend to improve both primary and secondary traffic. Primary involves the traffic that comes directly from a social media marketing site. Secondary traffic comes from referrals that other web sites create when they link to you after finding your content on social bookmarking sites.
* Quality links. When your content becomes popular on a site like Reddit, you will gain a ton of incoming links. Some might be relevant and some not. If your content is particularly good, you can count on a number of links that are relevant and high in quality. This, of course, results without having to buy any links, which can be fairly expensive!
So, what exactly does this all mean to your website in particular? Let’s take a look:
* Links matter. If your website obtains a large amount of permanent, natural links from trusted sites, your site develops authority. This means search engines will trust it. Should you take the time to set up linkbait and site structure well, you will start ranking and gaining visitors. Even a brand new site can gain links if a social media marketing site’s populace thinks an article or submission is worthwhile.
* Secondary traffic will increase. This happens when other sites link to yours because of your placement on the social bookmarking site. Secondary traffic can actually be more valuable because it tends to be more targeted. The social media marketing site is nothing more than a platform to get your voice heard. People that are interested in what you have to say will return and they will recommend your site in the process.
So, should you really fuss with social media marketing when there are other options like link exchanges, advertising and so on? Absolutely! Here’s why:
* Natural links. Go this route and your site will obtain natural links and tons of exposure. This is different from paid advertising in that it relies on word of mouth and genuine recommendations.
* You can strategize. The fact is social marketing can offer a lot of traffic on top of what the search engines provide. While it’s hard to control search engine traffic, you can control social traffic by strategizing.
* You can’t beat the price. Social media costs can be incredibly low. In fact, time is often the only investment.
* It doesn’t hurt other efforts. This kind of marketing is very community based. It will not interfere with other traffic generating efforts. In fact, it can complement other campaigns well.
While social media marketing will not earn you money directly, it can have incredible spin off effects. To be successful, your site needs followers. This type of marketing can help you increase your core base. Social media marketing efforts will drive traffic to your site, giving you the ability to grow loyalty, repeat visits and revenue.
This form of marketing is very valuable to bloggers, too. It provides a time-saving, effective means for generating traffic that doesn’t involve a ton of work. Focus in on excellent posts and push them through these services. This will save you from the effort involved in posting on a ton of other blogs or writing guest posts. Make social media marketing the lynchpin of your strategy and it will pay off.
Social media marketing can have incredible effects on any website. If you create valuable content and promote it wisely, you will have success. Social media marketing also works as well for those who sell products and services as it does content providers. It pays off greatly, so don’t delay!
social media marketing
Social Media Marketing = MLM 2.0
For the first time in many years, I had the privilege (misfortune) to receive (be tormented by) a Multi-Level Marketing presentation (assault). There are many obvious reasons why I have a strong disdain for MLM…probably no different than anyone else
Social Media Marketing For Small Business
Move to Trash
Where does social media – networking sites, forums, blogs, wikis and the like, fit with your overall marketing strategy? Social media does not replace all of your other marketing – it just changes the mix.
When I look at a company’s marketing I categorise it into two main areas – Online and Offline. I then break these down into further categories.
Online:
o Website & Search engine strategies
o Customer strategies
o List building strategies
o Sales strategies
o Social Media
Offline:
o Hands-off strategies (where you communicate with your customers indirectly) such as advertising, marketing collateral, direct mail, sponsorship, press releases
o Hands-on strategies (where you communicate face to face with customers) such as trade shows, seminars, events, client nurturing
o Shared strategies (where you work with others to jointly grow your businesses) such as networking, alliances, joint ventures, referrals
When a business is looking at marketing, they need to look at the right blend of these strategies to meet their specific goals.
Social media is just one part of the blend – but there are many reasons I love the Social Media for small business.
For starters the big one – it’s almost totally free! The only cost with much of the social media strategies is time if you do it yourself.
You can target your social media strategy so it also achieves the side targets of all of your other online strategies – more loyal customers, bigger list, better sales, and increased search engine presence.
The downside is it can be tricky to learn what to do; many of your peers and colleagues look at you as if you have suddenly grown two heads when you talk about it (so peer support can be quite low); and if not done correctly it can suck up hours of time without much result.
Off-line strategies are more traditional and have been proven to work over the years. The downside is they are often quite costly and in many cases you don’t get the results you were hoping for.
I know of people who have paid $3000+ for a tradeshow booth plus fit-out and printing costs, as well as wages and time and ended up with very little result.
With all marketing strategies – both online and off line, you need to calculate return on investment. You want to see how much the strategy costs to acquire a new customer.
So in the case of the tradeshow – let’s assume they spent all up $5000 on the show and acquired 10 new customers – the cost to acquire each new customer was $500. You need each customer to spend more than $500 with you over the life of their history with you in order to generate a return on investment.
I recommend businesses run the stats ruler over their networking activities in particular. Add in the membership fees, annual fees, meal fees, lost earning time (if appropriate) and then calculate how much new business you have generated from that process.
This is very confronting for many people – they may enjoy their networking but when they run the financial ruler over it they find they are paying out much more than they are getting back in financial return.
Of course not everything is about money – if you are getting your personal needs for connection and being part of something bigger met, then your investment in networking is a worthwhile one for you personally. Just be clear it is not really a business strategy but a personal strategy and you will go into your next session with a slightly different outlook and will gain more from it as a result.
So back to where social media fits with your marketing strategy. Well it all depends on what you want to achieve, the demographics of your market, the amount you have to spend and the time you have available. In my experience it is something worth adding to your marketing blend.
Six Marketing Strategies In Web 2.0 World
In Web 1.0 world, we are using internet banner ads, text ads, email, newsletters as our internet marketing vehicles to drive our marketing message to our potential clients online. Today, internet had been transitioned to web 2.0, new internet marketing strategies are needed to continue be successful in internet world.
With Web 2.0, we need to consider not only the new means of reaching our online audience but also the new nature of the social Web. Weblogs, blogs, and other web 2.0 sites dabbling with social media tools such as wikis, podcasts, videocasting, photo sharing sites, social bookmarking are the key marketing vehicle to drive internet traffic to the targeted websites.
So, as an internet marketer for Web 2.0 world and to be successful in an era where customers are freely discuss your products and services, you should consider the 5 important marketing strategies below:
1. Learn about social media
Social media is one the most important “must know” knowledge in Web 2.0. Thus, the first and foremost, you should participate in and understand social media by learning about it. YouTube, del.icio.us, Flickr, digg, MySpace, and Technorati are examples of new engines that you need to understand in order to effectively use them to reach your markets.
2. Marketing Plan For Web 2.0
You should factor let your visitors to play a more important role in your new marketing plan for Web 2.0. Let your website visitors to create content on your site and pass it a long. You even can your passionate users to create promotional videos about your sites/products, then use them on your local TV channels and post them online everywhere to get maximum exposure.
3. Join & Participate In The Conversation
Social media applications are two-way streets that conversation happens between two or more parties. To get exposure, you can join and participate to these conversation groups. You can join as members to other social media groups of your niche marketing or you can add social tools and services (such as Weblogs, wikis, tagging, video blogs, etc.) to your library Web sites. Enable comments on blogs and allow users to contribute to wikis.
4. Be Remarkable
Social media is a form of viral marketing where interesting ideas and content get passed along rapidly. Hence, in Web 2.0 world, content is the king. You must have contents that attract your visitors that they can use, bookmark, share online / offline and get your content or message pass along.
5. Get Your Content Travel
Encourage visitors to bookmark and tag your content with a click of a button and allow users to repost booklists, book reviews, photos, podcasts, or videos on their own sites. Post your content on sites like Flickr and YouTube where it’s easy for users to find and share it. Make news feeds for new materials such as books, DVDs, talking books, and video feeds so that these materials can be shared by online users and get your contents spread to the internet world.
6. Be part of the multimedia wave In Web 2.0 world, images and static pictures no enough to attract internet users any more, video is the key driver for Web 2.0. Statistic shows that more than 100 million videos being download daily. So, the effective of video marketing must not be overlooked. Create short videos and post them to YouTube and other video-sharing sites.
In Summary
These are just a few strategies about marketing in a Web 2.0 world. There are still a lot of ideas for social media marketing where you can explore and integrate into your web 2.0 marketing plan.
Social Media - Welcome To Reality Online
The use of social media encompasses a broad range of online media types. While some might only think of a social network like MySpace there are actually several social media formats that contain significant marketing potential for online business.
While others may think you are simply enjoying the multiple aspects of social networking, the truth of your interest may likely be tinged with a business focus.
What that doesn’t mean is that you post simply to leave a traceable link back to your business website. Those who visit any social media site see through posts that are overtly geared toward marketing. In many cases social media consumers view this as spam even if the social network owners do not. In the end, you can lose credibility of you don’t work as a meaningful contributor in a social media environment.
Social media can be presented in many different forms. Let’s take a peak at a few of them.
YouTube and other similar video sites These videos can be funny, serious, off the cuff and sometimes political in nature. You can show your business in a humorous light and allow individuals to be curious about you and your business.
MySpace and other social networks This form of social media is popular because it draws together multiple elements of social marketing and makes them accessible to the masses of individuals that may view social networking as an online version of reality television.
Blogs This is a form of social media if only because it does allow interactive exchanges between the blogger and the reader.
Forums This can allow you to have an individual voice willing to discuss topics of interest to the majority. As with all social media you can provide a link to your site. If you are viewed as a trusted source you will likely find forum members following you to your site to learn more.
Podcasting This is an audio stream that can allow a visitor to hear a personal message from you. This can have a pronounced impact in social marketing.
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it does provide something for you to consider as an addition to other marketing strategies you may have in place. Social media allows you to take your message to the people and have fun while you share your message.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to be real. The entire Internet community has a low tolerance for supposed spam so make sure you don’t use social media as simply another form of online advertising.
How To Win Friends and Twinfluence Tweeple
Also, it’s good to think of Twitter as a party, or networking event – You can walk around, shmooze with people on topics of interest – engage in conversation, ask questions, answer questions, and more. It’s about conversation. It’s about meeting people. It’s about learning. It’s about sharing. It’s about connecting. In a nutshell – It’s a free web and sms social networking service.
It’s called “micro-blogging” because of it’s simplicity and because your blog entries/tweets are limited to 140 characters or less. From the beginning. For those of you who haven’t used Twitter (the rest read anyway)… Get an account. Pick a username consistent with the rest of your social networks. You can scan your email address books for people and/or take recommended tweeps. Upload a photo (please don’t leave the default avatar), also upload a background picture. Add a basic bio – nothing long and keep it comical and/or informative. Add your website. Set your Profile to Public (everyone can see) or Private (just people you personally approve). Find people to follow through http://search.twitter.com or http://twellow.com.
Get used to lots of things starting with a TW sound. Just tweal with it Some Twerms: Tweet – Verb or noun, depending on usage. The micro-blog post you enter.
Retweet – Repeating someone else’s Tweet – Mentioned in detail below. DM (Direct Message) – A private message.
Device – Refers to your phone (SMS/Text). Click Settings/Devices and add. Followers – Readers who follow (subscribe to) your Tweets.
Following – The Tweeple that you are following. Follow People. Listen to them. When you are ready, reach out either though a DM or a @Reply. @Replies are flagged to the recipient and viewable by the public D (direct) messages are only viewable by the intended viewer.
So, to send a message just to me, privately you would put D williger in the message box. Make Sure to read your @Replies and Direct Messages (you can see this from your ‘Home’ navigation on Twitter. People may be reaching out to you and expect and deserve your reply. Well, usually – some people have automatic DM’s, it’s not a bad thing – just makes you weed through your inbox.
Be Cool – I can’t stress this enough. You may razz your friends in person, don’t do it here – especially when starting out. Micro-blogging, SMS, email, they all lack inflection – remember this. Don’t Worry – Don’t be afraid to start talking about what you are doing or engaging in a conversation. It’s just like any other type of communication, get used to the medium and run with it.
Promote It – Add your Twitter URL everywhere – Email Signature, Facebook, Myspace, Business Cards, etc.
To follow-back or not. This is a tough question with varying answers. It’s not an easy one to address as neither is right. Personally, I follow back everyone who follows me (well except spam bots and the like). Basically reciprocals, like myself look at this as good etiquette, a way to increase follower numbers, and give you more people to learn from. Discriminators focus on following very few people, which limits the variety of people they communicate with. Discriminators argue they have tighter relationships, and reciprocals argue they learn from more people. No way is ultimately right – start slow and see what works for you. Yes, it’s really easy.
Some Useful (and did I mention FREE) Tools HERE!
The ReTweet – I have to touch on this. A RT, R/T, or Retweet is a way to compliment someone’s Tweet by forwarding it to your Twitter follower stream. For instance, if I posted a useful quote, or a link you could take that quote or link, type RT @williger (and paste my post here). What this does is 2 things – it gives credit for the Tweet to the original author, and it introduces people in your stream to the author. It’s considered generous to RT. I will be putting together a seperate article about this soon. This should be a solid reference to start with, and I will be adding more articles here to help.
Please feel free to @darrenwilliger me any questions along the way. I’m learning more every day, just like everybody else. Come back for my next Twitter articles about integrating other sites, making backgrounds, RT etiquette, and hash tags. I have met some amazing people so far who I really enjoy communicating with. This is why I keep encouraging everyone to Tweet it up already!
- Click here to check Social Media Business Codes.
The next step is to start sharing and connecting….
