Social Media Marketing - What’s that? - Part 1

Recently I asked a group of about 25 business professionals if they knew what social media marketing was? The room got very quite and I got a lot of blank stares. Finally, one brave business owner raised his hand and said, “Facebook?”. At least he scratched the surface with his answer (maybe nicked the surface would be more accurate). No one else in the room had a clue. So if you don’t know what “Social Media Marketing” is and what it can do for your business here’s a brief overview.

What is it?

“Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a form of Internet marketing that creates interaction between a company and individuals through various social media networks.” Remember the word “interaction”. It’s a two way street unlike a TV spot or a banner ad. You’re communicating with your target audience and they’re communicating with you. You’re building relationships and, hopefully, trust. It’s much different than traditional marketing.

Where is it (here is a brief list of some of the social media networks)?:

Twitter / LinkedIn / YouTube / Flickr / Virb / Del.icio.us

StumbleUpon / Facebook / Digg / Reddit / Tumblr

Blogs & Forums are other great mediums for social media marketing.

How can Social Media Marketing help my business?

Here are a few of the big things that Social Media Marketing (SMM) can do for you: Increase your web traffic, build a broader customer reach, increase your reputation and create brand awareness. You can certainly accomplish all of these with other media but SMM can be a cost effective way of doing these things and doing them on a deeper level. Remember you’re building relationships, you’re not just blathering on about what you do with your fingers in your ears. You’re listening as well. And don’t forget, just like any other marketing initiative, you need to have a defined marketing objective you want to accomplish using Social Media Marketing.

How do I use Social Media Marketing?

Contribute something of value. You’re having a conversation between yourself and potential customers or people that can connect you to customers. So provide them with information that they would find valuable or interesting. This will help you become known as a subject matter expert - the “go to” person in your area of expertise. This won’t happen overnight but it’s worth the effort. People want to work with experts and when you’ve established yourself as one that increases your opportunities for new business.

Don’t be afraid to have a personality. You are interacting with people and the conversation goes two ways. So it’s ok to be funny (appropriately so) and to share a personal moment (not to personal). It’ll make you more likeable and approachable. Lets face it, people do business with people they like.

Connect with lots of people. Don’t just try to connect with people who you think could be a customer. You’d be amazed who you’ll get connected to through other people so connect!

Look for conversations to join. There are lots of forums out there on just about every subject. What you do is being discussed on the web so be a part of the conversation. People use forums to look for answers so why not be the answer guy or gal. You could be paving your way to your next big client.

Is that all I need to know about SMM?

There is a lot more to know but you will have to wait until I post part 2 of “Social Media Marketing - What’s that?”. Or you can contact us and we’ll help you develop a “Social Media Marketing Strategy”. In the mean time join some of the social media networks I mentioned above and start contributing, connecting and conversing. And have fun with it!