Unless you've been under a rock... you can see that the face of marketing has changed drastically the last few years and the stage has been set for a revolution in the way we instantaneously conduct business.
The days of invasive marketing are over. The new media is all about attraction!
What we want to do as business owners, is to build networks of possible customers. Create tribe's, fans and followers. Get them interested in us Daisy Drew. We do that, by having a great product or service... but we also do that, by growing and engaging our network and providing them with valuable, quality content on a consistent basis... this keeps them informed about our business and it keeps them coming back to our platforms. It also is non-invasive.
By creating & growing a network through attraction you are twenty times more likely to produce results than with invasive techniques such as spam and direct mail marketing.
Small businesses are scrambling to gain a foothold on the social media landscape, but most are vexed as to how to use new media platforms in a practical manner which will eventually lead to increased sales. After all, small business owners are great at running their business... but most are not social media guru's.
Many will jump down the endless rabbit holes, in an attempt to catch up with all the ins and outs and the peripheral necessities which need to be learned and addressed... from setting up your website, to search engine visibility... to SEO, to direct mail marketing and auto responders... to Facebook marketing, twitter, WordPress and the list goes on and on. To the UN-savvy business owner time and sanity may be a concern. But we can't simply publish a site and expect to make millions from the stream of revenue generating traffic. Here is where the old saying becomes dangerously apparent... "Internet marketing is successful for those who put the work in."
If your not sure about whether or not your business can benefit from social media, here are a few reasons to adopt a social media campaign:
1-Brand Awareness: Using social media allows your company to reach the highest number of potential customers possible. Getting your name out there is incredibly important - studies have suggested that customers need to hear a company's name at least seven times before they will gain the trust and respect needed to become a customer.
2- Brand Monitoring: Having an internet presence allows you to better understand what current and potential customers are saying about your product or services. Through active social media monitoring, you have the opportunity to address negative comments and correct false or inaccurate information about your brand.
3- Create a profile on multiple platforms: Your target audience is becoming savvier when it comes to the using social media sites in their daily lives. If you want to appear relevant and in-step with the latest advances in technology, your potential customers will want to see you on these sites as well.
4- Find New Customers Through Friends: You shouldn't neglect your personal social media accounts as potential avenues to promote the activities of your business. Posting regular updates relating to your business and activities can remind your friends of what your company does and either to use your services or refer one of their friends.
5- Find New Customers Through your company profile: Your company profile; i,e Facebook business page your Blogs, website etc., are a great opportunity for you to post regular updates on your activities, but also about important news and trends in your industry. This will catch the attention of new customers interested in your industry and increase your reputation as an expert in the field. It's critical to post regularly if you want to increase your followers or fans and convert them to potential leads.
6- Generate Site Traffic: By updating regularly on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with posts that link back to your site, you can create additional traffic to your site. Social media bookmarking tools like Digg, Stumbleupon and Slashdot can also generate additional traffic to your site if you create frequent articles and blog posts.
7- Increased Search Engine Rankings: Social media profiles frequently rank highly with major search engines. Using brand names and keywords in your profiles can help you to generate traffic for your social media sites and company homepage.
8- Integrated Results in Search Engines: Search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing are increasingly interested in indexing and ranking posts and other information from social media sites.
9- Niche Marketing: Allows you to reach very specific subsets of individuals based on their personal preferences and interests. You can create social media strategies based on reaching individual interests or even create unique social media profiles to target these audiences.
10- Video Syndication: Your video Campaign should equate to about 30% of your overall Social Media efforts. Video can be done many ways and forms a more intimate bond with your fans and followers. It can be done very informally, posting short video conversations about upcoming events or tidbits about your business, or it can be a "production video" showcasing your product or services. Both of these methods can be placed into syndication... all throughout the internet ether, to include, Vimeo, Viddler, Blip.Tv You tube etc. Videos from these popular Internet sites can also be optimized for indexing by the major search engines. Video campaign's are very effective and an integral part of any Social Media Campaign.
All of the above equate to a well rounded SM Campaign. We hope you have found this informative.
I hope you found this post informative. For more useful information on how to launch an affordable, yet complete social media marketing campaign call Virtual Rocket today. We offer affordable, attraction-based marketing.
