How To Define Your Social Media Strategy
How to define your social media strategy
How to define your social media strategy
You are at the head of a small business which you are determined to bring to drive to success and you hear everyone who is someone talking about social media and how having a strategy is the sure thing to win the market. So you wonder what on earth that really means and how you are supposed to learn it quick while everyone else is already in the bath.
We understand how confusing it might all sound coming from their mouth but in reality it is not that complicated. So relax and read on.
Social media basically means social networks where you can interact with other users, create e-relationships and get known, all that in the hope that you will be well seen on the actual market or that some of your new contacts might decide to do business with you. You dont have to go into the more complex definitions as long as your clientele is the mass market and you are not in competition with the social media don himself.
Before hitting your social media strategy you should take into consideration a few factors:
* Make sure your brand is secured so that later you dont get copyright problems.
* Do not jump in social media before you know what you want or else you will act so randomly it will work against you.
* Once you know what you want find out how to get it.
* The steps used to get what you want are known as a marketing strategy.
* Know the rules or better yet create them. We are talking of a few basic rules you will stick to no matter what. For example never promote someone elses product unless you have tried it and know it serves its purpose.
* Engage; dont stay on the pavement and wave. Walk down and join to make things move in the direction you want. In your case that might mean offering strong guarantees, bringing genuine help to your followers and so on.
Social media work can be very exciting and rewarding if you know how to use it. So choose a strategy where you will be taking part in the fun in the most appropriate role for you.
Your social media landscape will influence your choice of networks. Depending on your market-mass market or niche market-you will need to use social networks where your targeted market hangs out. For example there are forums for mothers only and others for people looking for affiliate marketing opportunities.
If you are looking for business in a business world then check out these networks:
Ecademy; big and small entrepreneurs come together to post blogs and polls.
LinkedIn; encourages connection between entrepreneurs.
Biznik; entrepreneurs help entrepreneurs at Biznik.
Cofoundr; great for those who are entering new ventures and want support from fellow users.
E.Factor: designed by business people for business people.
Upspring; great for promoting yourself.
Blippy is one of our personal favorites for business as it enables users to post and follow each other's updates about their purchases of goods and services. It has been described as the "Twitter of personal finance.
And if you are going for something more general then lucky you since the 3 top sites have members of different genders, all ages and all backgrounds.
Facebook is great for adding people you dont know but want to know, creating or joining groups that centers around business, advertising at competitive prices through fanpages and sharing great content.
Twitter lets you share short updates with your followers and leave it to them to choose to click to read more.
Youtube isnt music only; professionals post videos and get rated and commented upon. If people like your content they will subscribe to your channel.
Friendfeed will help you consolidates the updates from your different social networks which is great for not missing anything. In that same spirit but more specifically for mobile users Foursquare and Gowalla will definitely help: They are primarily mobile web applications that allow users to check-in to locations that they visit using their mobile device.
You might want to use the services of a coach to be guided in more detailed steps. A coach could also advise how to plan your business; what to do yourself and what to outsource.
Best of luck in the social media marketing world!
by: rajeevk22
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