Networking Is Breakfast of Champions! Learning To Use Social Media Marketing For Business
Networking Is Breakfast of Champions!
Chances are, you have already been using social media. You probably have a Facebook account, a Twitter account, and a few more accounts around the web.
You are likely already used to using each of the sites, but you might not have started using them for business. When you use the sites for business, you have to act slightly differently. After all, you are trying to get more sales. Here are some ways for you to start thinking differently of social media marketing, so you can use it for your business.
The first thing you need to do is to find out where your target market goes. For instance, if you are trying to reach teenagers, you will have better luck on Tumblr than you will have on Facebook. Don’t waste your time and think you’ll use all the social media sites. Stick to the ones that your target market are already using and enjoying.
Next, remember your own preferences on social media. Do you like reading 30 updates every day from the businesses you follow?
Probably not. Remember that social media is not the place for the hard sell. Social media is best used to build relationships and to gently guide people to your site. It is not so you can spam the people you want to buy your products.
Remain professional. It is very easy for you to make the mistake of thinking that social media is a place for you to be relaxed. While the hard sell is inappropriate, beware of being too familiar as well. Keep language clean and remember that you are operating in a business capacity. Save the tweets about your cat and your lunch for your personal profiles.
Ignore negativity. Sometimes, you are going to run across those who are just plain nasty. They will say mean things to you, and will taunt you. It is best to remember that you must take the high ground. Don’t allow others to bring you down to a low level. People will lose respect for you, and you will not gain anything from getting into an argument on the internet.
Provide good content. This is something that will get your content shared time and time again.
You need to make sure that you are giving people information that is not only interesting, but relevant to them and their needs. If they get fired up about your information, they will be quick to share it, and you’ll enjoy even more followers. You can even ask your fans and followers what they would like to see, so that you can better serve them and keep them interested.
After reading this article, you should have a better idea of how you can use social media for your company. There are certain steps you can take, and this article has outlined some of the best ways for you to do that. Use the information here, and you will discover that you can build a loyal following with social media marketing.
To your success.
How The Social Media Has Changed Marketing Forever
It is no exaggeration to say that the social media has changed the face of marketing beyond all recognition in the last 5 years.
Whereas prior to the explosion of different social media sites marketing was a case of using above the line advertising or a targeting of specific groups by readership profile today the landscape is very different.
The social channels that are available to the marketing expert or even the inexperienced business owner have made the task of reaching the target demographic much easier. Today establishing a brand presence on the Internet using a number of social media channels is extremely simple and need not take up a lot of time. The appropriate channel is also easy to identify due to the numerous articles and guides that can be found by using any one of the many search engines available.
However some research is required, even if it is just spending a few hours on the Internet before a decision is taken as to which social media site or combination of sites is selected for the marketing or brand activities.
Many of the sites are specifically designed for the placement of visual images (still and video). These are ideal for brands which have consumer facing products which can be found on supermarket shelves or which are available for purchase over the Internet. Other sights are more general in nature and feature content that is usually a combination of images, video and copy. These are appropriate for almost any business.
There are two main challenges when using the social media for marketing purposes, firstly is the development of appropriate content and the second is the management of that content.
Creating unique and engaging content is one of the ways that the business can promote sharing of information on the brand across the social media network. Not only will the information be shared and spread more rapidly but the creation of quality content will also be rewarded by increased visibility in search engine rankings.
The content should be professionally produced and feature value added information that the user will find useful. Often companies turn to SEO or content marketing specialists for advice on how to develop exceptional content that is suitable for their target audience.
The second challenge is managing the time that it takes to interact with the audiences that are consuming content or even just visiting the brands social media sites.
The interactive nature of the social media makes it tremendously powerful in reaching these audiences, but without engaging with the audience on a regular basis the social media can turn from being a positive marketing tool into a negative one that can damage brand and corporate reputation.
Many businesses want to manage their online presence, but simply do not have the resources to do so effectively. In cases like this outsourcing the management (and measurement)of social media sites should be evaluated. When in doubt as to the effectiveness of a social media program the business should always seek the advice of a professional.
To your Success.
How Search Engine Optimization Has Become More Sophisticated
Internet marketers are very familiar with the need to use good search engine optimization in each individual post or article they write. Without good SEO, Google will not send the traffic they need to be successful.
Over the years search engine optimization has become more and more sophisticated. This has been necessary in order to keep up with the technological advancements of Google and other search engines.
Gone are the days when marketers could get by with using a targeted keyword phrase in the title of an article, and then loading the page with the same keyword phrase over and over again. Worse, these pages often contained no information at all; they were pages filled with nothing but links to affiliate sites.
Those marketers found that the search engines sent them so much traffic that they could still make a boat load of money from the 1% or 2% of the visitors who would click through on one of their many affiliate links and make a purchase.
It is easy to appreciate why Google needed to do a better job of understanding where they were sending traffic. Would you continue to use Google if every time you searched for something you were sent to a link farm? Do you like to be sent to a page that offers absolutely no information about the subject of your search? Of course not. No one does.
As technology improved, Google started learning how to separate sites that had informative content from those that were abusing the system. They started learning how to identify articles with original content. They started rewarding articles that included words and phrases that were related to the title of the post. They also stopped sending traffic to sites that repeated keyword phrases over and over and over.
As Google became even more advanced they started looking for and identifying excessive affiliate links. They also started noticing the number of ads that were placed inside an article — and where in the article the ads were placed.
Today Internet marketers have learned that practicing good search engine optimization really means providing informative content that is relative to the keywords in the article title. They have also learned that the article cannot be copied and that the article should be filled with words and phrases that are related to the subject.
Some feel that Google wants to get rid of Internet marketers. According to Google, however, all they want to do is to send the people using their service to websites that provide what they are looking for. After all, when you use Google, that’s what you expect. Everyone wants to be sent to a website that that answers a specific question or solves a specific problem.
So when you are preparing articles or posts for your websites or blogs, just remember to think like Google thinks. Make sure that you provide relative and informative content. That is the first rule of good search engine optimization.
To your success.Â
Coach Amaka Adindu on Content - Marketers Now 
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