June 10, 2009

Social Media Marketing

What is social media?
Media (content that is published) with a social (anyone can add to and share it) component. Social media is like a business networking reception without the constraints of time and space.
  • Social Media is Inbound Marketing
  • Social media helps with SEO
  • Social media promotes your blog
  • Social media is permission centric
The conversation has already started… it’s time that you’re aware of it and develop a strategy for engaging in it and using it for marketing.

Get Found Online Using Social Media

STEP 1: Guidelines for Engagement
• Meet people and start conversations, become a real member of the community – don’t join to just advertise your products.

• Add value to the community – answer questions and help others.

• Ask questions – trust others’ advice.

STEP 2: Publish, Share, and Network
• Publish: Everyone can publish anything for everyone

• Publish everything you have anywhere you can

• Monitor what others publish and promote it


• Share: Anyone can promote anything to everyone

• Monitor what’s being shared about you

• Find where your audience hangs out

• Promote valuable content, yours and others’

• Product content your audience will love

• Network: Anyone can connect with everyone from anywhere

• Make friends – find your existing connections and build new ones

• Be helpful – answer questions, share interesting content

STEP 3: Measure & Analyze

• Key metrics to consider are: number of blog visitors and subscribers, del.icio.us bookmarks, inbound links, Facebook fans and activity, friends on Facebook or LinkedIn, votes for blog articles, posts in forums.

• Measure real business results: number of visitors, leads, and customers generated by each social media effort.
• Empower your customers to publish