Archive for Social Media Marketing
How to Get the Ball Rolling in Your Favor
Posted by: Cathy- UK Internet Marketing Service | Comments (0)Social media marketing is like a doorway or gateway to influential communities that have important implications for marketers and entrepreneurs alike. The environment of our marketplace today is changing really fast. That is why it is vital to go with the latest or future trends.
There are effective and inexpensive social media strategies available to you. But you have to understand that cheap doesn’t mean easy. It may take a lot of time but as soon you make progress, it will be easier for you then.
Here are four steps to get started in effective social media marketing:
Step one: Commit yourself to communication
It is necessary that you know the distinction between selling and communicating. Never sell. Just tell, help and listen. You will be ineffective if you directly advertise through social media. Sales come after building relationships with your prospects and gently guiding them to opt-in to your email list.
You can think of social media as a grand cocktail party. Your purpose of going there is to work the room, mingle and mix but don’t attempt to sell. You can also give your calling cards. If people are fascinated with your knowledge and understand you, they may call you.
Step two: Start a blog
Your blog will help you build credibility. Most people are comfortable in buying things from people they trust, respect and know. There are social media sites where you can post your blogs like on Tumblr and WordPress. Make sure that you choose the right social media site that would complement the needs of your marketing campaign.
Step three: Lurk
Start lurking while you are doing the step two and sign up on social media accounts. Lurking is same as “working the room”. You have to listen first before going into the comments on social media sites. By listening to conversations, you will find out what they are interested in. Lurking also will help you find the style of post that appears to get the most response.
Step four: Participate in the conversation
After making an interesting blog, you can now participate in the conversations or comments. Having an engaging and humorous answer to your post will invite more people to follow your blog. Your blog brings information and the brand of your online shop. You will then get new ideas from other people.
Most online sellers are uncomfortable with the idea of social media. Maybe they do not understand or they are not familiar with it. Many small businesses succeed in social media marketing just like with the large businesses. By working hard and following these guidelines, your online sales will most definitely increase.
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Technorati Tags: Social Media Marketing, social media sites, social media tools, Social networking
How to Use Free Online Tools for Site Promotion
Posted by: Cathy- UK Internet Marketing Service | Comments (0)Discussing, promoting and sharing information are some of the advantages in social media marketing. It includes social networking, social bookmarks, forums, wikis, and blogs. Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo and LinkedIn are few examples of websites used for social media marketing.
Small and big businesses are now using social sites as tools to spread brand awareness and discuss their products and services. The best part of these applications is that they are free of charge. It is a great advantage for small business operating on a low marketing budget.
Social media requires long term commitment and consistency. Business owners should also have done research on selecting the appropriate social applications in line with their company’s mission and goal. Here are some popular and successful social media tools for small business.
- Create a Blog
The sites that receive the most traffic are blogs. A blog is like a journal that is written by an individual and is regularly updated. Your company can use or create blogs to share multimedia, news and information about your business.Through the use of blogs, a small business can develop a specific image or personality and educate people about their products and services or the industry in general.
- Use Twitter
Twitter is a micro blogging and social networking service that allows users to read and send messages to the public. By using Twitter, you can promote your products and broaden brand awareness. Twitter is a fast-growing online community and its popularity is still on a rising trend. - Facebook Fan Page
Most people are now using Facebook. Facebook is the most well-known social networking site in the world today. It is not only known for personal profiles but also for business profiles. This social media tool allows you to share your company’s videos, photos, event posts and concise wall posts. By replying to the fan’s questions on your wall post, your customer service will be enhanced. - Use LinkedIn
LinkedIn launched in May 2003. It is a business-oriented social networking site and is usually used for professional networking. You can post your resumé and receive approval or recommendations from fellow employees, clients and business partners. This is also an efficient way of hiring competent employees and recognizing business opportunities. Users can make connections and interact through LinkedIn Polls, LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Answers.
Social media is now a fascinating tool in the world of business today and is modernized to meet the consumer’s demand. It is highly recommended to do research on the effective tools in social media to promote your company’s services, products and brands to your target market.
Technorati Tags: Facebook marketing, linkedin marketing, social marketing tools, Social Media Marketing, social media tools, twitter marketing
4 Reasons to Practice Social Media Marketing
Posted by: Cathy- UK Internet Marketing Service | Comments (0)Social media can be an effective marketing platform for your website or business. With competition being so stiff today, every business is looking for an advantage. Creating a following on social sites such as Twitter and Facebook can give you that edge.
The following are the top four reasons why you should use social media:
- Low cost/high returns. Costs are limited only to time especially if done personally but possible expenses are entailed when hiring a freelance programmer/designer. Oftentimes, the profit will usually beat the cost. One could spend thousands of dollars to purchase many links but social media has the ability to provide you them for free.
- Natural. Your websites can be freely represented to large groups of people in a natural fashion. If done right, word of mouth will always pay better dividends than traditional advertising. This is different from paid advertising which has obvious business overtones.
- Traffic. On top of any traffic you are already receiving from search engines, social communities can be a great supply of web traffic when mastered effectively. Also, social media traffic is easily controlled through strategic marketing when you cannot increase your search engine traffic.
- Complements other efforts. Typically, social media optimization and marketing is community-specific. It will generally complement any other systems of getting traffic to your websites therefore balancing every other advertising campaign that targets other websites and search engines.
DOES SOCIAL MEDIA HELP MAKE MONEY?
Social media does not help you make money, at least not directly. A core group of supporters who will be completely willing to make purchases or recommend the site to others is needed for every site or business that wishes to increase, expand, and become profitable. This strategy can raise awareness and strengthen your brand.
If you have more supporters, your site will perpetuate faster. If you want to get people to visit your site and explore what you have to offer, then social media marketing is an excellent way. Your chances of growing is likely greater when you have a large group of loyal and dependable visitors ready to always respond to what you are offering.
Most importantly, social media websites can greatly increase your site’s income potential as they can be a leverage for links and better search rankings. If you are not using this technique yet, give it a try and see amazing benefits for your business.
Technorati Tags: facebook for business, social marketing, social media, twitter for business
Social Media – How to Use Twitter for Business Purposes
Posted by: Cathy- UK Internet Marketing Service | Comments (0)Twitter is so popular worldwide that even little kids have their own Twitter accounts. So how can a business differentiate itself from those people who only use this social media to talk about what they want to have for lunch and what style of jeans is the latest fad? Here are some ways for a serious businessperson to use Twitter to bring about positive results for his business:
- Use Twitter to know what people have to say about your business.
People will always talk. And much of what they say will have a great impact on businesses especially when it has something to do with an opinion about a certain product or service. Word of mouth can affect your sales directly. When people hear or read positive feedback about the products that you offer, you can expect more and more consumers being coaxed into buying your product and experience the benefits themselves. On the contrary, what do you think would happen to your business if an unsatisfied customer posts to Twitter stating that he or she received a defective product or the service rendered did not produce the desired outcome?
- Use Twitter to snatch customers from your competitors.
This is an extension of the first item. When you monitor discussions about the industry where your business belongs, you will find a good number of discontented customers. You can play the hero by assisting miserable end users thereby stealing them from your competitors. These are instances that you need to take advantage of in order to have more customers who will stick with you for a long time.
- Use Twitter to get opinions from consumers.
Instead of making a wild guess, you have a better way of knowing what customers would prefer and that is by giving them a choice between A or B. Get their feedback and take note of their reply. Doing so will aid in making the right decision as to what new products will be a sure hit when you offer them to the market.
- Use Twitter to connect with leaders in your industry.
Industry leaders are less likely to respond to letters, answer your calls and it is next to impossible to speak to them without an appointment. And with their schedule jam-packed with meetings, conferences and other business-related concerns, you would have to wait forever to even get an appointment. But with the help of Twitter, you can follow these high-profile experts and, post questions and get a direct reply, thereby building a relationship.
Twitter’s popularity is still on the rising trend. And to make the most out of it, you can try these suggestions as well as look for more ways. This list just includes 4 ideas and there are still hundreds of ways that Twitter can offer benefits to your business.
Technorati Tags: how to use twitter for business, marketing on twitter, Social Media Marketing, twitter for business
As a small business, you will need to have a FaceBook Fan page for your business. This is similar to your website, or rather, is an extension of your website. On your FaceBook page you will want to give a condensed version of just the important facts of your business but more importantly, you will want it to have a certain feel of exclusivity. Meaning you will want to make them an offer on FaceBook that they cannot get anywhere else.
Offer Incentives Exclusively To Your Facebook Friends
You have to give your customers an incentive for becoming, and staying, a fan on FaceBook. This may mean you offer a special contest only for your FaceBook friends or perhaps a coupon or special offer that they will not find anywhere else and be sure to only put this offer only on your Facebook page. Nothing will tick a customer off more than thinking they are getting a special deal only to find out you are offering that same deal to everyone. So, make sure that you develop specific promotions targeting your social media accounts exclusively.
Use Promotional Items To Turn Your Facebook Friends Into Promoters
This one is very powerful and can give you a huge return on investment. It could also save you money in the long run. Let’s say that you know that your cost of acquiring a new customer is $25. You can get customized promotional items such as pens, notepads, coffee mugs, mouse pads, etc. emblazoned with “I follow (your business name) on Facebook”. Add your company logo and web address. Send these items off in the mail as a free thank you gift to your FaceBook fans. Including shipping, it will likely only cost you a fraction of your customer acquisition cost.
The result will be a loyal customer who will post about you on Facebook to their friends and will remain so for a very long time. This works and it works extremely well. Yes, there is a small cost involved in getting the promotional materials to start, but the payoff is almost priceless. People love getting free gifts, especially unsolicited thank you gifts. It goes a very long way to solidifying yourself forever in your customers’ minds as a great business to deal with.
An additional benefit is the fact that your followers will need to give you their contact info in order to receive this free gift. This means you not only are gaining a loyal customer, you are growing your mailing list and gathering important demographic information.
Putting the FaceBook Marketing To Work For Your Business
Once you have established yourself with your customers, do not leave it at that. Continue to offer great deals and incentives for them to remain actively involved with your business on Facebook. When you consider that the average FaceBook user will have at least 100 friends on their lists, having those loyal customers actively promoting your business is key to your success. Whether you choose to run a monthly contest or a monthly special, those customers will come to look forward to hearing from you on FaceBook and will communicate it to their friends.
There are a great many ways that you can effectively use FaceBook to grow your business. You just need to be creative and committed to making it work for you. The rewards are great if you take the time to do it write. The costs are small compared to other forms of marketing but the return on investment is much higher.
Technorati Tags: facebook for small business, Facebook marketing, how to market your business on facebook