SMM – Start a conversation with your market

SMM
The world has gone Social, especially when it comes to online. 95% of people carry smartphones and “Check-In” when they are having their coffee, or eating lunch, getting their hair done. We spend hours each day surfing Facebook, Pinterest, Yammer……

Smart businesses are using Social Media Marketing (SMM) to promote their Services, Products, Causes. SMM is about promoting a website, business or brand through the various social media channels. Engaging, inspiring, interacting with potential customers and other stakeholders, nurturing existing consumers to continue bringing business back to the company.

Markets are places for conversations, marketing is your part of the conversation, social media provides a medium through which the enduring conversation between customers and brands is realized. Social media engages and interacts with customers and empowers their lives, activities and interests by assuming the role of a participant instead of a spectator. SMM creates, fosters and drives conversations through engagement, interaction and relationships. It demands and reciprocates attention, inspires change in the way brands communicate.

Internet marketing and also offline marketing efforts can be used in SMM. The techniques used are aimed at generating traffic for their websites, buzz for their business or products, and has the added benefit if done correctly to build relationships and also links. SMM is the process of getting established content distributed widely across many social media platforms.

Social Media Marketing Panel

There is an ever increasing number of platforms that can be used. Some platforms are suited to certain types of business, other platforms suit other businesses. Here are some of the platforms available (the list is much longer than the following):

  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Del.icio.us
  • Bebo
  • Flickr
  • Friendster
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Buzznet
  • Tumblr
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Content and “ideas” get submitted to these and many other platforms in the form of Pictures, Memes, Stories, Invitations, Games, ads, questionares, all created to be sharable, and all hoping to go viral.

Off Page Social Media Marketing

Off-page social media marketing include writing compelling content, shareable because of it’s uniqueness, or value to viewers. Consumers are entertained, educated,  engage by brands through their SMM. The job of the Social Media Marketer is to create great content that people are eager to share to their friends, and the world.

Social media marketing builds bridges between customers and brands , creates conversations in the Internet ecosystem to generate greater and more comprehensive brand visibility.

Read about “10 Social Media Marketing Tips to Help You Avoid Social Media Failure!

Track your SMM metrics: “Tips to Track Social Media Analytics

 

 

 

 

10 Robust Social Media Marketing Tips

Social Media Marketing Tips

1. Use Blogging
A blog is the internet’s most prominent area that is capable of promoting anything and make it famous. A platform that anyone can make use of to share information. Blogs are a quick way of promoting anything, which is why a company’s blog, both big or small get the vital information to their customers. So if you want to make the most out of Social Media Marketing then you need a blog.

2. Use Twitter marketing
Twitter is an international as well as one of the largest promotional platforms hence there is tough competition. By tweeting and promoting anything on twitter, you are making more effective ways to use social media marketing to turn the ordinary into extraordinary.

3. Use Facebook as a form of online marketing
Facebook is the most popular social media platform on the internet. Probably the biggest and most widely used as well. Over the years it has emerged as a drastically influential medium.  Marketing on facebook can be effectively managed by creating Facebook Fan page of your brand or a Facebook personal page and regularly post updates to keep your targeted audience engaged. Creating these pages let you to get in direct touch with your fans and followers.  You can improve on your marketing strategies with the information that is literally suggested by your fans. Hence, Facebook fan page is a must have in your social media marketing arsenal.

4. YouTube marketing
Nothing attracts viewers more than a good viral video. Good videos get the attention of most users and produce a great deal of attention and traffic. The impact it creates can make your brand a household name and boost your traffic substantially.

5.Use Twitter marketing to expose your products to more people
Endorsements have been the tool of marketing firms far and wide. Marketing on Twitter and Facebook gives you the power to be tapped. Twitters can expose your product to millions of people around the world if you partner with a popular personality on Twitter.

6. Go for Blog reviewing
Another big way to generate traffic, buzz and sales is through blog reviews. It is another way of endorsements and is a great bang for your buck. Because a good review will get you almost 5 times or 10 times more than what your paid for it. Also make sure that the person reviewing for your has a large following, only then can you receive the best value for your money.

7. To make giveaways go viral use Twitter
One of the best ways to make effective use of social media is to host a giveaway using social media outlets. The simple investment of the giveaway could yield you many new twitter followers, hundreds of new Facebook fans and an email subscription list. This twitter marketing strategy has its own long term benefits.

8. Hook up with celebrities via Social Media Marketing
Social bookmarking sites  allow you to make a mark that can be stumbled upon later on. Social sites like Digg.com, StumbleUpon, Reddit are among the best for storing links, organizing them, and directing traffic to your websites. And getting linked with celebrities has its own added benefits and authenticity.

9. Use social media marketing strategies that are often overlooked
Twitter and Facebook are the websites you are already using. Other social networking websites like MySpace, and many more are often overlooked when it comes to social media marketing. These websites are till date effective for marketing and not lost their charm. Marketing strategies will prove effective if carried out on these sites.

10. Use Twitter, Facebook and YouTube marketing together
A combination of the top social networking platform will create a strong impact on the audience. This will get your Facebook fans to follow you on Twitter and vice versa.

If you are short of time and cannot carry out these services then you can contact a Social Media Marketing Company that offers dynamic Social Media Management Services.

 

Social Media and Social Media Marketing

social mediaSocial media and social media marketing appear to be the buzzwords as the past couple of years. We hear a lot about ways that companies can use to beat social media communities and the strategies involve in building a following on social media platforms.

For all time respond.

To the good and the bad. Let your audience know that you are there with them. Let them feel like they have a direct line to the show hosts.

Listen keenly.

This is a big mistake most people make. They desire to push their own agenda and it does not work. This audience is the key to success, and they are telling you exactly what they want. “Give the people what they want!”

Be consistent.

So many who have failed did so because they didn’t adhere to this rule. Update consistently and produce fresh content on a schedule. People come back when they know they could be missing something. Humans are creatures of habit. Help your audience create a habit out of you.

Content is King.

Today, He/She who has the gold does not make the rules. They simply have more money to create more content! Status updates, photos, blog posts, events, episodes, shout outs, discussion boards, press releases and articles (like how to guides). All of it is content, and you should always be adding more.

Create Value in Everything.

This especially concerns to rules two and four. For all time be sure what you are posting has some type of appeal to your audience. Find out what they want and tailor your content accordingly. When people find value in what you’re saying they post comments, share it and make it viral, and that’s the goal!

Make it special.

Create incentives for people to join your network and tune into the shows. Make them feel like they’re a part of something exclusive and fun, even though anyone can join.

Stand out.

The average Facebook user is connected to 80 fan pages, and Facebook has over 25 billion pieces of new content posted every month. You are competing for attention, how are you going to get it?

Create Evangelists.

Get your audience to promote your brand. Truly understanding your audience will allow you to appeal to them so well that they will take ownership of your brand (think Apple fans) and sell your brand for you. Nothing sells products faster than your own customers (through comments, testimonies, sharing content, etc.)

Measure results.

Look at your inputs and correlate them with the outputs. In other words, see if what you’re doing is working, and identify which things generate the biggest buzz.

A vital part of social media marketing is thinking creatively. Be valid creativity to every campaign and program, and do not trust on a single strategy for success. Plan your campaign carefully.