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Five Top Social Media Marketing Must-Haves for Newbies
By Joyce Dierschke | July 16, 2009
Want to jump into the social media marketing pool, but not sure just how deep you should go? Here are 5 top social media must-haves to get you started:
- Blog
- eNewsletter
- Google Alerts
Not every business will have the same social media strategy, but these five items are the basics of any good plan. I chose these five, because they compliment each other. Each builds upon the other.
Think of your blog as home base. Some tips for a successful blog:
- Fill it with quality, useful and relevant content that will not only solve specific problems for your readers, but help to position you as a thought leader and expert in your field.
- Open it up to readers to participate in the conversations you are starting.
- Talk about your brand, but don’t talk “up” your brand.
- Use your real name when you write blog posts.
- Provide a profile – that includes a photo – so people can put a face with a name and understand how you came to have your particular expertise.
- It is imperative that you be authentic and transparent.
Blogs are not for selling, blogs are for communicating. Blogs make your brand personal. Never forget that. If you do…rest assured your readers will not.
Think of your eNewsletter, Facebook, Twitter as magnets that draw people into your blog. Use these tools to:
- Post short teasers link followers and friends back to your blog, and back to your brand.
- Post useful tips, offers and information that help to create a community around your brand.
- Call attention to breaking news and the latest promotions.
- Offer useful information that your reader can really benefit from.
- Send coupons, special offers and sale notifications.
Over time, this will also help to strengthen your position as a thought leader and expert in your field.
Think of Google Alerts as your brand’s personal private eye.
Whenever anyone posts something about your brand, Google will shoot you an email. When you do get alerts of posts – do something!
- Respond to the poster directly on their blog, Facebook or Twitter account.
- Re-post their comment and respond to it on your blog.
- No matter how you respond (or how you feel) be respectful and stay positive.
Be prepared to receive some negative posts – even if your brand is the greatest in the world someone out there will have a bad experience, or perceived bad experience and they are always the first to share!
With the speed that social media has matured, it’s not possible to use just one tool or even two. A network of tools is essential for maximum ROE (return on exposure).
Since it is sometimes difficult to know where to start. These five tools are the diving board. But before you cannonball in…
There are some First Steps you should follow prior to launching any social media initiative, including:
- Read related blogs
- Leave thoughtful comments on other people’s blogs
- Sign up for Twitter, Facebook and Google Alerts and monitor what others are saying about you and your brand, or even what they’re saying about your competitors
- Come up with a plan as to how you will use these five tools:
- Do you need to hire a social media manager?
- Will your CEO or other upper management blog?
- Which staff members will blog, which will blog, which will monitor the web?
- What will be your policy about what is OK for your staff to blog, tweet and post?
Doing these things will help you get acquainted with the tools available, get comfortable using them and also see how others use them, what works, what doesn’t.
No one said social media was easy! It may seem like a lot at the start and getting everything set up can be time consuming. Once your tools are in place however, I think you’ll find that social media can be rewarding – not just in increased awareness about your brand, but as a conduit through which you can communicate directly with your consumers.
If you have additional questions about choosing tools and implementing your social media strategy, please contact me. I can steer you in the right direction.
Next post: How To Measure Effectivness of Social Media Marketing Through ROE (Return On Exposure)
Topics: Blogging, Email Marketing, Facebook, Integrated Marketing, Social Marketing, Success in Business, Twitter, marketing, web 2.0, word of mouth marketing | 1 Comment »
July 17th, 2009 at 4:17 am
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