Is Social Media Marketing using services like (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Buzz...
) just a phase? People spend hours every week on websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc...
Here they connect with friends, discuss and share content about their areas of interest with like minded people.
The social web is also used to help people making purchase decisions.
They discuss your brand and product and share experiences with each other.
Already 90 % of all consumers try to find information about companies and products on the internet before making a purchase.
Consumers highly rely on the opinions and recommendations of others.
Companies and Internet users tend to run away when they hear the phrase "Twitter & Facebook & YouTube" when it is mentioned in their web strategy.
This is mostly because they do not understand it.
Most people think YouTube, Facebook & Twitter are for bored staff, college students & bored housewives.
But they are totally wrong! Most social media applications started in college dorm rooms, but it has made its way into the boardrooms of the worlds top companies.
Fully utilising the power of Facebook, Twitter & other social media tools, is vitally important to any online campaign and presence.
The key is in the tools you use as well as the message you communicate.
Each company or business is unique when it comes to Social Media, it has its own flavour and voice in its "community".
The rules for engaging with our community have changed totally since the launch of the web.
Within a South African context, people are still as wide eyed and see Social Media as a "Waste of Time" and not as a "Business Tool" Social media marketing takes extremely hard work.
However, the returns from a successful ongoing social campaign can be amazing.
You will be seen as a company who knows what they are talking about, a company that listens, cares and is keeping up with technology.
When you start with a social media marketing strategy needs to be ongoing, it needs to be unique.
You must also make sure that it is real, just as your company or you as an individual are.
You must never try and copy what someone else is doing.
Whether it is a Facebook page, Tweets or a YouTube Video page.
Your campaign needs to be unique otherwise people will find it boring and will not tell their friends about it - when people tell their friends this becomes viral marketing and it spreads like wildfire.
You must never just spam the social media channels with special offers, but rather engage with your audience as they are your clients! The critical wording on the internet is "Content is KING" and if you stick to this you will never go wrong.
If you produce good content, you will succeed in the Social Media World.
You must take advantage of the social media while it is in is infancy in South Africa.
Some of the Social Media Services you need to invest in are: Facebook: - Creation of Facebook Accounts - Creation of Facebook groups - creation of Facebook pages - Monthly posting of videos, articles, photos/images, events etc.
- Placement of Facebook Page links on the client's website Twitter: - Setup of Twitter accounts - Posting/tweets relevant to what is on their website/blog - Tweets of any other content required by the client - Placing Twitter links on the client's website Blogs: - Setup a Blog - Design of a blog theme - Daily/Weekly/Monthly posting of articles, images/photos - Content must be provided by the client - Placement of Blog links on the client's website - Submission to Blog directories - Site submissions - Adding of share functions to blogs, e.
g.
: 'retweet this', 'Sphinn this', 'share on Facebook' etc..
...
Social Bookmarking: - StumbleUpon - Digg - Delicious...
and lots more Remember Social Media Marketing is not a one month wonder.
It does not have to be a shot in the dark either