Use Social Media to Help Market your Business

October 6, 2010

Advances in the internet, coupled with today’s social media environment opened up a completely new method to maximize your marketing strategy.  Before social media came onto the market, a company’s potential to interact with customers was somewhat limited, and in some cases very discouraging.  Take for example, Telemarketing.  This industry was negatively impacted when caller i.d. and call blocking were implemented in the 1980′s, then came the “Do Not Call Registry” in 2003.  Naturally, this all but cut the lines of communication between them and their customers.   Another example is the small businesses owner who simply lacked the financial resources to market their companies effectively.  These problems ultimately led to the demise of many businesses.

Today, technological advances allow business owners to meet those challenges head on by integrating Social Media Marketing with traditional marketing strategies.  To use social media marketing effectively, you must first realize that it takes a good amount of time and effort.  However, when executed and applied properly it can greatly increase your potential for new leads, brand recognition, traffic rates, and number of sales.  To accomplish this, it is imperative to know what type of image you want to project, and promote it consistently.  Then you will need to create an account and set up a profile with several social media networks.  Your profile must be intelligible and strictly focused on your business activities.  It must also coincide with your businesses objective.  A few simple tips would be to place your company’s logo as the thumbnail image on your profile, and also incorporate that logo into a custom designed background.  This supports a professional and cohesive image.

Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube are all high traffic sites you can use.  On these sites, your tasks will be to find or attract potential customers. Once this is accomplished, you have information you can use to market your products.  In addition, social media sites have tools you can use to connect with your audience.  Think out of the box.  For instance, on Facebook post an incentive on your fan page to attract potential buyers.  On Youtube, create and upload a series of high quality, informative videos. Targeted customers watch these videos, and then have the option to share them on other social media networks.  This does require some skill, but the cost is well worth the potential return on your investment.  As with any successful marketing plan, tracking your progress is essential.  Google Analytics is a free tool that does the tracking for you, so you can stay up to date on how many hits your site receives, where they come from, (including Twitter and Facebook,) how long they stayed, and what interested them most.  This allows you to make strategic changes if necessary.  In business, one thing is certain and that is competition. You must take a pro-active approach in order to stand out.  Integrating social media outlets will help ensure that you are doing everything you can to promote your business, and dominate the competition.

Capturing the Power of Social Media for Your Business

June 3, 2010

The internet has opened the doors for so many businesses. If you had an existing business “pre-internet”, then you had a new way to earn additional revenue. If you were looking for a way to start a business, then the internet offered ecommerce as a way to generate income. No matter where you were, you knew that the internet was going to take the world by storm and you wanted to be along for the ride.

Now there is a new forum; social media! Social media is an online term that pertains to the conversations and interactions of people online. Social media includes sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and more. It’s where digital media combines with the power of “word of mouth”. It’s where business owners can promote their products and services to the masses and reap the rewards. That is – if it’s done effectively.

Imagine the internet as a series of giant billboards. If you plaster your name and product all over every billboard people will see the message but with so much “direct, in your face” marketing, they may begin to overlook your self-promotion. The key to social media is to provide something someone needs in order to get them to look to you for more information. So let’s say you owned a hair salon and had built an amazing website. In order to draw traffic you may create an article on “Top 5 Updo’s for Prom”. That article can be distributed to various article directories to gain you exposure. It can also be added as a blog on your website. Now, turn up the volume, just not very loud. So you take the next step and post a blurb on your Twitter and Facebook page that says something like:

This season, the updo is all the rage. Check out the Top 5 Updo’s today by going to “insert website address here”.

So you’re adding value by giving your audience something they will find interesting.  By giving them the website address to this information you are taking them back to your site or blog and “presto” – you have now promoted your site and services without overdoing it. By not marketing your business in such a direct manner, you actually capture a wider audience and have now captured the power of social media to gain the exposure you need. You’re slowly becoming the expert for information in your niche market.

Now, the trick is not to stop there. Some businesses feel if they do this once or twice then they’re golden. That couldn’t be further from the truth. It takes constant marketing in this manner to get you on top and keep you there. The power of your marketing campaign depends on the effort you put into it. So the question is………”What are you waiting for?”