Social media matters. Sure, some may see it as a fad, but it has been proven time and time again to bring real results to businesses that use it correctly. Not only does social media influence SEO, but it also has a significant impact on your branding, marketing, and PR efforts as well. For those of you who haven’t pushed your business into the social media yet, or for those of you who have, but still can’t quite grasp it, consider these tips. Read On
Social media is awesome and can do so much for your business, but with so many modes of use that it can provide, how do you prioritize and where do you start? Great questions – let’s start out with listing all 5 modes:
This is the second of a 5-part series where I’m going to cover all 5 in detail. Today we’ll dive into your sales channel on your social media platforms and talk about the great and not-so-great strategies out there. Read On
About a month ago I posted about the need to have a blog in a post called: Focus or Fail: Blog Marketing.
Have you done anything about it? I’ve been thinking about possible barriers to getting started with your blog. Let’s discuss it and I’ll provide a possible solution to each.
Barriers to Blogging (really just excuses):
I recently tripped over a very useful blog post at The Future Buzz. The writer, Adam Singer, is a prolific and successful blogger who has assembled 50 tips to help a new blogger get going. I thought that all of the 5o were very insightful, but two that were particularly insightful:
In our “now” world, many small businesses want a quick marketing fix. Revenues are shrinking and the current economy is certainly very challenging. I can definitely appreciate needing a quick fix, since businesses rely on new customers to produce revenue. The only quick fix in online marketing will come from pay-per-click advertising, not Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media or blogging. The long term rewards from having a smart and effective SEO campaign, a fun and informative social media presence, and an authoritative blog, however, are worth the efforts involved.
Take the time to focus your marketing efforts and in time you will see the results.
Focus or Fail. You Decide.
Image source: blogs.worldbank.org/governance/blogs/alfredo
People mistakenly think of social networking as a way to market – to quickly make an impact. They want to be on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other sites. They want to try every new technique they read about.
The way most people approach social networking sites is like hiring people to hand out business cards to as many people as possible. They want to advertise, not be social. Social networking sites are about being social – which means interacting – but rather than to one person at a time it’s to a group.
I recommend that you go deep rather than wide. Choose one social network or platform and do that well. Social networking is high touch – it takes time and expertise. If you go too wide and shallow you likely won’t see results. Instead go deeper.
There is a learning curve and it takes time to build relationships, just get momentum going by starting to communicate and by communicating regularly on social networks. Once you start communicating you need to have a commitment to continuing to engage.
Choose one or two places to focus (places where your demographic is hanging out) and go. Here’s a press release about a large study of social networks that is find helpful to decide where your target market is hanging out online: http://business.rapleaf.com/company_press_2008_06_18.html
