Social media can spread out your brand presence far and quickly. Handle with care 1. It’s affordable You don’t need the large marketing budgets the big brands have, a social media marketer can help you get started with a social media presence. There are hundreds of social media sites , choose the ones that match your audience and your brand best. Social media is about developing personal relationships so even with professional help the main cost could easily be your time. You know how much your time costs so be efficient or it will end up costing you more than you think. 2. It’s viral With the right content your blog posts have the potential to spread out your brand awareness quickly and far, but be careful with what you put out . It can benefit you but it can also hurt your brand. 3. Improves your brand reputation Putting out quality and focused content will help you establish your brand as an authority in your field. Make sure your content supports your brand position. Be consistent, provide value and avoid writing self-serving conten t, which can damage the brand reputation you are trying to build. 4. Increases traffic to you website which generates more leads and new business A social media presence that is well integrated and consistent will generate links and improve your search engine rankings. Prospects will find you before they find your competitors. To generate conversion make sure your website and landing pages are optimized and deliver what your prospects expect. Be aware that although traffic is great never do anything that generates traffic but can damage your brand. Brand is always first. 5. Helps your brand establish a strong connection with your audience The interactive aspect of Social Media is personal by nature, so the relationships you create can be deeper and last longer than with any other media. To maintain those relationships make sure your brand comes across authentic and transparent. 6. Connects you with leaders in your field With Social Media you’ll have the opportunity to interact and network with leaders in your field. Comment on their posts and tweets and participate in their social media conversations. Support them when they ask for support and they’ll support you when you need them. 7. Builds credibility What others say about you is key to your brand credibility and success. Use Social Media to create a positive perception about your brand. Your clients and prospects will believe what others say about your brand more than anything you can say about it yourself. Track constantly what others say about you in blogs , to make sure you can respond quickly to any potentially damaging comment. I use Google Blog Search in my iGoogle page to keep an eye on what’s been said in blogs about me.
Sharing your story through words, pictures, audio or video
Social media is about telling your story and enables you to build your reputation and earn peoples trust. These things are the new currency of social media marketing. The tools to build this relationship are simple and easily available. They are: 1. Affordable Don’t need the large marketing budgets Free tools Just takes time 2. It’s viral Stories spread easily and widely You retain control of your message 3. Reputation Builds your trust and your credibility Transparency and honest won’t hurt 4. Customer Relations Hear what your customers are saying about you and builds connections with them.
Hundreds or thousands of social networks
The internet is ubiquitous and content that users produce has termendous value. As a result traditional marketing is dying. Instead consumers are turning to social media to find out about products and services. This has been phrased as “Your brand is not what you tell people it is, its what people tell you it is” 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content In the near future we will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media Future of Marketing Your brand is what people tell you it is, not what you tell them it is
A reverse chronological collection of personal entries. Combines text, images and links to other websites or blogs. Readers have the ability to leave comments and interact. Personal Titusferguson.com Profession Rtraction.com
A reverse chronological collection of personal entries. Combines text, images and links to other websites or blogs. Readers have the ability to leave comments and interact. Podcasts are audio versions of blogs Examples NPR’s This American Life deyscast
6 billions minutes per day – average of 48 minutes per person
Most likely familiar with personal Facebook pages – Fan pages are the same but for a brand
1000 acts of kindness Over 500 fans in less then two weeks Over 15 daily engagement on average Use an example of a feed
A page has access to a lot of specific information about its ‘fans’ – demographics etc branding
Facebook for professionals 80% of employers use LinkedIn as their primary means to find new hires
Rather then searching out information, let it come to you Like the Facebook Wall or main page
Facebook status updates but only a 140 character limit
74% of Canadians unaware of Twitter 10% of Twitter users generate over 90% of content
Is your audience already participating? – if so then Yes! Set aside the time
Follower – a user who receives your tweets Following – a user whose tweets you receive
tweets sent directly to you
hashtag Tagging topics so that they are grouped together Like a card catalogue
Searching Twitter How twitter becomes more powerful
Subscribe to the RSS feed for the search on your “business or industry" so you don't miss a thing.
Now that we are familiar with the tools. We need to understand how you will get the most out of them.
Find out what social network your users are on – Facebook or Twitter for example – and engage them there.
Comment on relevant blogs i.e Taylor Breaks Guitars and the guitar case company.
Produce the same type of content they are already consuming Relationship is now flipped back – they observe and interact with the content you have created.
Follow developments in your industry and those of your competition
Tweetdeck is a great tool to observe, interact and engage with.
Tweetdeck is a great tool to observe, interact and engage with.
Using Social Media to Market your business builds your reputation Reputation is why people purchase from you. Real Time Search