Understanding Social Media Marketing

admin    Social Media     Marketing, Media, Social, Understanding

A lot of people are confused by the term “social media marketing” and believe that it is only advertising on a social networking site, where networks monitor what users are doing and place ads next to them, hoping they will get a click. However, social media marketing is actually about different kinds of collaborations between people and finding ways that individual fans of a particular brand product or even a company can endorse it themselves on various social media sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others.

Social media marketing differs from industrial media marketing in that industrial media generally uses very expensive tools requiring a great deal of financial capital to publish its information, where as social media marketing uses fairly inexpensive tools that enables anyone anywhere to publish or access information. Both social media and industrial media have the capability to reach a small audience of one or two, or large audiences of millions. However, the time lag is generally much longer between a communications from industrial media as compared to social media when responses can be instantaneous. In addition, there are currently few, if any, limitations on social media such as on pages or hours. The audiences are encouraged to be active participants, to add comments, or blog or even edit articles or stories, as they deem necessary.

Social media optimization, or SMO, uses methods that generate publicity through social media and online community websites. There are many different types of technologies and applications for social media like blogs, vlogs, wikis, emails, podcasts, instant messaging and many more. Two of the most popular reference services are Google and Wikipedia. You can share photos at Flickr, videos at YouTube, personal music at Last.fm, microblog on Jaiku and Twitter. Besides the now universally known Facebook and MySpace, you can also go social networking on Avatars United, Youmeo and Second Life (social network via virtual reality).

Experts insist that social media is here to stay. Companies are now recognizing the need to be more involved in social media marketing, because it is through these channels that they can hear most quickly and honestly what consumers need and want. Businesses are learning that they now no longer wield absolute control over the behavior and buying decisions of their consumers. By paying attention, for instance, to a pro- or anti- product blog from a consumer, marketers have access to open customer discussions they never had before and then, in turn, open their own dialogue to be able to drive the needed change quickly.

Social media marketing opens up a world of fast-flowing creative experimentation where an idea can be tested online in the morning and by afternoon there is a response. Social media techniques should be combined into the marketing mix to optimize the places where the impact can be maximized. The key element in successful social media marketing is to be swift but make sure to drive change in proactive way rather than being reactive.

Social Media Marketing Training For Toronto and Area Businesses

admin    Social Media     Area, Businesses., Marketing, Media, Social, Toronto, Training

If you operate a business in a city as large as Toronto, you know how hard it is to stand out from the crowd. Social media marketing (SMM) can give you the edge.

With a population of over 5 million in the GTA, the market is huge, but so is the competition. Social media marketing offers an affordable and relatively easy marketing solution. The key is to learn how to do it right. Social media marketing training can teach you how to harness the power of social media.

The Value of Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is a multi-channel approach to marketing. It uses social media sites, social bookmarking, blogging and articles to help generate interest in your business. It’s really like the next incarnation of word-of-mouth marketing. Instead of people chatting about you, they are linking to you and sharing those links with friends.

Consider an example:

• A Toronto marketing company has a blog. The blog appears on the company’s Website, with posts linking to other pages on the company’s site. People using Google to find information about Toronto marketing firms stumble on a blog post, which links them to the company’s site.

• The company has a Facebook page. It adds blog posts as notes on its Facebook page. People finding the company through Facebook share the blog posts with other Facebook users. Some users seek out the blog for more information, and find their way to the company’s main site.

• The company also writes a series of articles and posts them in an online article database. These articles also link to the company’s site and appear in Google search results.

• The company’s articles and blog posts are included on a social bookmarking site, increasing the chances of links being shared.

None of these initiatives have cost the company money, yet they have increased the company’s inbound links and attracted interested prospects. They have also led people to share links to their blog posts and articles, which, in turn, link to their main site.

Start With Social Media Marketing Training

Now that your interest in social media marketing is piqued, you’re probably wondering how to get started.

Training is the key. Without it, you’ll be hopelessly lost in a sea of social media sites, and probably exhaust yourself trying to keep up with them all.

With social media marketing training, you can learn which sites and techniques are best for your business. You can develop a strategy to ensure your social media marketing is manageable. You can create an editorial schedule for your blog posts and articles, so you know what you are writing about and when you need to post. (Fresh content is critical to success in SMM.) You can learn all about RSS, and the difference between social networking and social bookmarking. You can also learn some basics about optimizing your content to attract targeted traffic to your business.

An investment in social media marketing training will pay off immediately. Don’t get lost in the shuffle of Toronto businesses. Get started with social media marketing today and get ahead of the competition.

Social Media Optimization: The Power Of Popular Opinion

admin    Social Media     Media, Opinion, Optimization, Popular, Power, Social

Why should I care about Social Media Optimization?

You should care about Social Media Optimization (SMO), because you care about your company’s image. There’s an old saying that goes something like, “A happy customer will tell one other person about his good experience. A disgruntled customer will tell ten people about his bad experience.” Good or bad, that’s powerful marketing. Social Media Optimization gives you the power to take an active role in managing your brand by interacting with your current and potential clients by discussing your products, their comments and concerns and continually promoting your brand.

Social Media Optimization Defined

In its most basic form, Social media optimization (http://www.neboweb.com/social-media-optimization.php) is any method used to raise your website’s online visibility through meaningful communication. SMO opens a dialogue between you and your clients, using the power of popular opinion to fuel your marketing campaign. The open format strengthens your search engine optimization efforts by fostering a mutual connection with your clients through the myriad of online communities, also called social media sites. Current examples of SMO include:

• Creating profiles in social media communities such as MySpace, Facebook, and VIRB.
• Participating in and/or creating blogs.
• Disseminating your blogs or articles using RSS feeds.
• Creating and sharing content through community based sites like Flickr, YouTube, and more.

Not to incorporate unnecessary buzz words, but SMO is a very Web 2.0 approach to Search Engine Optimization. Of course, Web 2.0 merely refers to the perceived second generation of Web-based communities and hosted services – the social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies, which facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. SMO allows you to become an active member of your online community, quite an important aspect of marketing your brand. Through participation, you establish yourself or your company as an industry leader and increase your online visibility.

As you can imagine, Social Media Optimization is most effective when the viral nature of the technique and its communities are utilized in a positive manner. Creating legitimate content, building relationships and instilling trust in your community is the very backbone of SMO. You may initiate the process, but effective SMO will take on a life all its own. A true forum is bred through the act of continual communication between your company and your online audience.

Of course, not everyone plays by the rules. In every aspect of life, you will find those who would cheat the system to receive short term gains. Like most schemes, the underbelly of SMO may seem attractive to anyone looking for a quick fix, but don’t make that mistake. Just as it’s true with SEO, erroneous SMO will backfire. Using questionable techniques will very likely yield the exact opposite results you were hoping to see.

SMO Etiquette

Legitimate SMO techniques are centered on sharing information and exposing your community to your interests. As such, you want to focus on promoting proper SMO etiquette. The MySpace super friend, the guy or gal who adds anyone and everyone, would be a good example of improper Social Media Optimization. The whole concept behind Social Media is to create a community with similar interests for meaningful discussion and let the power of popular opinion increase your online visibility. Of course, you may belong to several different communities and you may even have some of the same friends in those different communities. That’s perfectly fine. The idea is to remain active in your communities by adding friends and contributing relevant content. Adding friends in bulk, for no reason, is no way to optimize.

Communal sites like MySpace and Facebook, or even YouTube and Flickr to some extent, are indeed popularity contests. However, simply trying to catalog massive amounts of unrelated, uninterested “friends” is totally counterproductive. Let the high school kids worry about who’s got the most friends. For the purpose of SMO, you should concern yourself with quality, not quantity.

Using unsavory SMO techniques is the Web 2.0 equivalent to spam. Unfortunately, we’re all far too familiar with spam. Unsolicited bulk messaging and link heavy advertisements instead of useful comments are two of the more prevalent methods of Social Media spamming. However, Social Media spamming is even more atrocious than email spam, because the offending text is visible to everyone on the site. It doesn’t hide in your inbox, so it can really dilute the appeal of the site. Your kindergarten teacher was on the right track. If you don’t have something relevant to say, don’t say anything at all.

Is SMO right for my firm?

There are many different types of Social Media sites currently available. To put it in perspective, think about all the different interests you have in life. Now, consider the possibility that there’s at least one Social Media site for each of your interests. Of course, you’re not the only person on the Internet, so it’s a safe bet there are literally millions of sites dedicated to countless interests around the world. Believe it or not, there’s a group out there looking for your company, product or service. You just have to make it available. Therefore, understanding how to submit to and maintain your content on each community is absolutely crucial when developing a successful SMO strategy.

A few examples of the different Social Media genres include:

• News – These sites allow users to submit news articles. Once an article is published, users can submit their comments and vote to promote the story and/or author.

Examples include: Digg, Propeller, Newsvine

• Media – These sites allow users to upload and share a variety of different media files. The overwhelming majority of these sites are dedicated mainly to photo and video files.

Examples include: YouTube, Flickr

• Wiki – These sites allow users to add and edit informational articles as determined by the individual users.

Examples include: Wikipedia, WikiHow, Million Dollar Wiki

• Networking – These sites allow users to create profiles and network with others according to similar traits, tastes, and interests.

Examples include: MySpace, Facebook, Virb

• Bookmarking – These sites allow users to compile public bookmark collections of sites they find interesting, informative, or helpful. The more a site is bookmarked, the hgher the ranking.

Examples include: Stumble Upon, Technorat, Del.icio.us

When executed properly, Social Media Optimization can be quite a beneficial marketing tool. However, SMO may simply not be the right fit for your organization. Some questions you might like to consider before launching your SMO campaign are:

• Most SMO sites share very specific information. Would your products benefit from this type of content specific market?

• The audience for most Social Media sites is more of a young, tech savvy group. Would your company, product or service appeal to their fickle nature?

• Does your web site contain a blog, or similar media outlet, you can regularly update with relevant content?

• Given the fact that community based sites focus on individual profiles and commentary, are you comfortable with developing unique profiles across multiple sites?

In summary

Social Media Optimization has become a successful marketing tool for one simple reason. It works. The gap between old media and new has gotten smaller and smaller with the majority of the prominent television and print media outlets finally embracing the Internet by launching sites of their own. The different Social Media sites, like MySpace and Facebook, have exploded with profiles for everything from 8th graders discussing their favorite bands to full scale ad campaigns for Blockbuster movies.

If done correctly, SMO can expose your brand to markets you never thought possible. Whether it’s used alone to drive a campaign or in conjunction with your current interactive marketing strategy, Social Media Optimization offers you a significant advantage.

Social Media Marketing – Doing it Right

admin    Social Media     Doing, Marketing, Media, Right, Social

Social media marketing is certainly a powerful marketing tool. This strategy has proven its effectiveness for quite a long time. Social media marketing has been an excellent marketing tool even under the worst economic conditions. Today social media marketing is said to be “the best way to spread good news under the worst conditions”.  From getting links to your website to attaining international exposure to your business, social media marketing has an important role in the marketing strategy of any business. Like any other marketing strategy, social media marketing also requires proper planning and appropriate execution of the plan. This marketing strategy without proper planning and execution will be a complete waste of time and may ruin your business too. This article will help you to plan and execute social media marketing in the right way.

The Non-Spammy Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking of your website to the popular social networks like dig and stumbleupon is a great strategy to boost the traffic flow. Many people do a mistake by over-doing social bookmarking with a single user account, which will result in the bookmarks getting flagged as spam. Ignoring this warning and continuing this activity will eventually end up with your IP address getting blocked. Hence you won’t be able to use this strategy from that particular IP address. Moreover, all the time spent in bookmarking your website will be wasted. Hence it is always good to have different user accounts to bookmark your website over a prolonged period of time.

The Well Customized Social Media Profiles

Social media websites like facebook are greatly leveraged today for the marketing campaigns. You must have noted that President Obama made use of this strategy in his election campaigns. As every social media marketer is getting into these social networking sites, it is very much important to highlight your profile. Thankfully, there are lots of customization options available with these social networking websites to highlight your profiles. Another important thing to be noted is to create a fully complete profile with your real name and a few links to the recommended products in your website.

Active Participation in the Social Networks

Social media marketing is not a one time process. For instance, let’s take the example of marketing through the social networks like facebook. To get noticed in the social networking crowd, your profile should be active. All the social media profiles should be updated with some content frequently. Fresh, updated content is always loved by the search engine bots. Active participation also includes forum postings, commenting and participation in polls.

Getting Professional assistance for Social Media Marketing

If you are unaware of the right way to plan and execute social media marketing, there are many professionals ready to help you. The social media marketing services provided by them will save your time. Moreover, with their expertise in social media marketing, they can create a great social media marketing plan that best suits your websites marketing needs.

From Social Media Network To Business Relationship, How To Start?

admin    Social Media     business, From, Media, Network, Relationship, Social, Start

In social media network (SMN) site, you get to know someone you think they will be your business partners. First of all, you profile and experience must be well prepared in SMN site. If you could get the recommendations from your working or business partners, that’s nice. It makes you more positive and let other people feel more confident when communicate with you. Secondly you have to do, searching the keywords, e.g Corporate Gifts, “e-Books”, e-Commerce Development”, and etc. If the location is crucial, you should also input the location name into keyword box.  After obtained the search result, you have 3 methods to link with them:
1.Leave them the message directly and state your reason of contact
2.Get someone you know already in the SMN site who can introduce you to the target
3.List what you are buying or selling on SMN site. Let the other people contact you

Contact and Send the Message
I would suggest first 2 methods because you need to contact the potential clients proactively and show your sincerity of doing business with them. The following example is the message you write to the target:

Dear Mr. ABC,

How are you?

This is Mr. Johnson Harry from ABC<a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=http://company.easytrade.com/kf/home_en.asp?showroomid=1&companyid=1>Crystal Gifts</a> Ptv. Company. I come across your profile in the XXXX.com and would like to build up the business relationship with you. We are a<a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=http://www.crystal88.com/>crystal gift manufacturer</a>based in Hong Kong. We supply the wide range of crystal products to our clients in Europe and United States, e.g. wedding gifts, corporate gifts, desktop items, house decorations, and so on. Currently we are offering the big discount sale on our products. Most items are 50% off at its original price. Please see the our<a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=http://company.easytrade.com/kf/home_en.asp?showroomid=1&companyid=1>online showroom</a> in EasyTrade.com and ask for quote directly their. I will respond you within 24 hours. Thanks for your attention!  

Yours sincerely,

Johnson Harry

Follow Up
Send the message to them and wait for the response. If your target does not respond you within 2 weeks, he might not be interested in your products. However you should make it clear and send another gentle reminder. For example,
 
Dear Mr. ABC,
 
Following up my last message to you, are you interest in our products and big discount offer? If you have any special requirements or need additional services from us, please let me know and I will try my best to meet your requirements. Your early response is appreciate. Thanks!
 
Reegards,
 
John Harry

No matter you send the message to the target directly or post your offer on SMN site, you have to show your products online and the e-Commerce features with online catalog is highly recommended. 

From Social Media Network to Business Relationship,How to Start?

admin    Social Media     business, From, Media, Network, RelationshipHow, Social, Start

In social media network (SMN) site, you get to know someone you think they will be your business partners. First of all, you profile and experience must be well prepared in SMN site. If you could get the recommendations from your working or business partners, that’s nice. It makes you more positive and let other people feel more confident when communicate with you. Secondly you have to do, searching the keywords, e.g. Corporate Gifts, “e-Books”, e-Commerce Development”, and etc. If the location is crucial, you should also input the location name into keyword box.  After obtained the search result, you have 3 methods to link with them:

Leave them the message directly and state your reason of contact Get someone you know already in the SMN site who can introduce you to the target List what you are buying or selling on SMN site. Let the other people contact you

Contact and Send the Message

I would suggest first 2 methods because you need to contact the potential clients proactively and show your sincerity of doing business with them. The following example is the message you write to the target:

Dear Mr. ABC, 

How are you?

This is Mr. Johnson Harry from ABC  Crystal Gifts Ptv. Company. I come across your profile in the XXXX.com and would like to build up the business relationship with you. We are a crystal gift manufacturer based in Hong Kong. We supply the wide range of crystal products to our clients in Europe and United States, e.g. wedding gifts, corporate gifts, desktop items, house decorations, and so on. Currently we are offering the big discount sale on our products. Most items are 50% off at its original price. Please see the our online showroom in EasyTrade.com and ask for quote directly their. I will respond you within 24 hours. Thanks for your attention!  

Yours sincerely,

 Johnson Harry

Follow Up

Send the message to them and wait for the response. If your target does not respond you within 2 weeks, he might not be interested in your products. However you should make it clear and send another gentle reminder. For example,

Dear Mr. ABC, 

Following up my last message to you, are you interest in our products and big discount offer? If you have any special requirements or need additional services from us, please let me know and I will try my best to meet your requirements. Your early response is appreciate. Thanks!

Reegards,

John Harry

No matter you send the message to the target directly or post your offer on SMN site, you have to show your products online and the e-Commerce features with online catalog is highly recommended.  

Leverage Social Media To Create Affinity Groups Online

admin    Social Media     Affinity, Create, Groups, Leverage, Media, Online, Social

Intelligent research is the first step to launching (or not launching) any new business venture. Thinking like the individuals you are most hoping to influence is the key to developing a successful business model.

I’ve saved clients millions of dollars over the years by identifying critical threats (competitive, legal, moral, etc.) to their proposed new venture, simply by putting myself in the shoes of their target audience, and behaving as they would when presented with the new option being offered. In some cases, I’ve identified far better business models to pursue and directed my clients accordingly. But in many case, I’ve advised existing or prospective clients not to pursue the new venture at all, for reasons discovered through my intensive due diligence process.

Around Y2K, a top cruise industry executive asked my opinion regarding how I might rebrand their primary cruise line to better articulate their marketing message. The first thing I did was search the web to see how all other brands were attempting to sell me on the idea of a cruise, and how they claimed to be different from every other option available of the eighteen or so to select from. I quickly discovered that virtually every brand was claiming to be just perfect for me, without knowing anything about me or other people like me.

Every brand was speaking to me from their own perspective (selling me on their brand), while my own personal concerns centered around whether I would even enjoy cruising at all, regardless of brand. I decided that I might be compelled to cruise if it were with a ship full of other people like me, who I might most enjoy partying with for a week. I also quickly noticed that no cruise line gave me the option to search for cruises based on the types of people I might like to cruise with enough to tip me off the fence to pull the trigger and actually book a cruise.

While every brand in the industry was touting their destinations, size of ship, amenities, service, price, etc., the one thing I was most interested in – cruising with a bunch of other people that I would actually enjoy spending a week with – was not a searchable option. When every brand in an industry tells you they are just perfect for everyone, the entire industry is actually telling you that they don’t know you or care about your wants and desires.

So there it was – the reason why more people weren’t cruising was staring me right in the face, and the ramifications of this revelation were not only significant for the single brand for whom I was consulting, but for the entire cruise industry. An industry that was accustom to broadcasting their marketing message in one direction was about to be confronted with a new paradigm, the requirement for a cultural shift toward two-way dialogue as a marketing necessity.

Under my guidance, the results of these early revelations led to a cultural transformation not only at this Fortune 500 cruise line, but across the entire industry as their competitors responded to our online initiatives. Consumers had found their voice through online social media, and began configuring their own cruises not around brands or itineraries per se, but around groups formed online by others like themselves. We eavesdropped on their conversations as the groups were forming online, anticipated their wants and desires, and delighted them once on board, by honoring their group with a party and memorializing their time together in pictures.

My theory went as follows: Once groups form, and vacations are enjoyed, they plan another cruise, together, with even more of their friends. As the trend develops over the years, groups will double in size each year, and eventually grow large enough to charter entire ships (saving the cruise line 15% on travel agent fees and 100% on marketing costs), and they won’t even care what brand name is on their ship.

As group leaders emerge and find their voice, they may select a different ship or different itinerary for the group’s next cruise, but it was highly unlikely they would opt to switch brands – as such a move is too disruptive to the group. Brand loyalty is a happy byproduct in this case – not as a result of the superior service delivered, but because the switching cost (disruption and angst within the group) is simply too high. As “the group becomes the brand,” the industry can spend less on brand marketing (reduce or eliminate television advertising), and more on delivering the experience at a better value to these devoted groups.

The world of information is at your fingertips, provided you bother to commit the time and effort, and ask the right questions. Before I embark on any new concept, whether for myself or my clients, I’ve been known to spend several days with as many as 15 Google tabs open at one time, in search of total information awareness on all aspects related to the target concept. Every Google search can open a door to new elements that may not previously have occurred to you, many of which are critical to understanding whether your new venture is actually going to be perceived by the market in the way that you think it will be.

Unless and until you are willing to step out of your own shoes and into those of the people you are most trying to influence (at every level of the value chain), you can’t really know whether your product/service, messaging, price point, delivery method, etc. is truly going to result in the only thing that matters, profit.

http://newventurestrategies.com

Using Social Media for Business – Beginner’s Guide

admin    Social Media     Beginners, business, Guide, Media, Social, Using

On the topic of social media applications, there seem to be three types of people: the super users, the avoiders, and the people that say, “I know I need to, but which ones and why?” Most business people probably fall into the last group: the ocean of people who lie between the early-adopter ?-geeks and those mind-boggling creatures who only check their email once a week or so. Yes, there’s potential there for good things to happen…if you’re actively using the right applications.

The number of applications and communities is overwhelming. Many of the most popular ones, like MySpace and YouTube, aren’t going to be all that helpful for professional interaction. That’s not true for every industry, though, so it’s worth asking around and seeing what your communities are using. If your colleagues, contacts, and customers are all using some other method of connecting, by all means go participate there. The point of this is for you to be able to make useful, meaningful connections and interact.

LinkedIn is a simple, useful tool for any professional. This is the business networking equivalent of being listed in the phone book. It doesn’t require very much attention and can provide a great deal of benefit. Spending half an hour building your profile lets you put your CV out there, easily find your network of contacts, and be visible for the sort of notice you want to receive. If you want to do more, there are great community features. People can recommend you and your work. You can ask questions through LinkedIn Answers and get answers from people who actually know what they’re talking about. If you need to hire someone or are looking for a job, it’s an ideal place to put out feelers. You won’t get clobbered with email from LinkedIn

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Home Page > Business > Using Social Media for Business – Beginner’s Guide

Using Social Media for Business – Beginner’s Guide

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Posted: Apr 17, 2008 |
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<br /> <h1>Using Social Media for Business – Beginner’s Guide</h1> <p> </p> <p><strong>By: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/john-rasco/38794" title="John Rasco's Articles">John Rasco</a></strong></p> <p> <br /> <!--articlecontent--> </p> <p><strong>About the Author</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Specializing in marketing technology-based companies since 1987, and active in Internet marketing since 1992, John Rasco’s skills as a marketer, team leader and strategist are key to successful client engagements. Founder of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.refreshweb.com">RefreshWeb</a>, a national <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.refreshweb.com/b2b_web_marketing.php">B2B Internet marketing agency</a>, John has an entrepreneurial gene, a creative bent and a passion for challenging projects.</p> <p class="tracker">(ArticlesBase SC #389108)</p> <p> </p> <p>Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">http://www.articlesbase.com/</a> – <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/using-social-media-for-business-beginners-guide-389108.html" title="Using Social Media for Business - Beginner's Guide">Using Social Media for Business – Beginner’s Guide</a></p> <p> <br />

On the topic of social media applications, there seem to be three types of people: the super users, the avoiders, and the people that say, “I know I need to, but which ones and why?” Most business people probably fall into the last group: the ocean of people who lie between the early-adopter ?-geeks and those mind-boggling creatures who only check their email once a week or so. Yes, there’s potential there for good things to happen…if you’re actively using the right applications.

The number of applications and communities is overwhelming. Many of the most popular ones, like MySpace and YouTube, aren’t going to be all that helpful for professional interaction. That’s not true for every industry, though, so it’s worth asking around and seeing what your communities are using. If your colleagues, contacts, and customers are all using some other method of connecting, by all means go participate there. The point of this is for you to be able to make useful, meaningful connections and interact.

LinkedIn is a simple, useful tool for any professional. This is the business networking equivalent of being listed in the phone book. It doesn’t require very much attention and can provide a great deal of benefit. Spending half an hour building your profile lets you put your CV out there, easily find your network of contacts, and be visible for the sort of notice you want to receive. If you want to do more, there are great community features. People can recommend you and your work. You can ask questions through LinkedIn Answers and get answers from people who actually know what they’re talking about. If you need to hire someone or are looking for a job, it’s an ideal place to put out feelers. You won’t get clobbered with email from LinkedIn

Using Social Media to Build Out Inbound Links

admin    Social Media     Build, Inbound, links, Media, Social, Using

There are many creative ways referred to as link-baiting to get people to link to you without you even having to ask. The easiest way to sum that up is engaging, original content. And there it is again, that word. Content. In the context of social networking, use a combination of a blog, article directories, press releases, Squidoo, Wet Paint, Hubpages, paid links and online charity donations. If you are surprised about the last item on that shopping list, you’re not alone. But it’s true: The “.org” status of charity sites is highly regarded by Google — and thus gets an almost immediate indexing to the search pages.

Here is a little insight into how a campaign is constructed and what results can be generated. Let’s assume you are trying to attract attention to your site and build dozens of relevant links in the process. Creating hundreds of new links is the whole point of a link-bait campaign. These campaigns are similar to PR campaigns where the quality of the content and the distribution list are the critical success elements.

Step 1: Research your market and develop content that is relevant to this audience. In many cases these articles launch on Digg.com, which is visited primarily by young tech-savvy males. The choice of a catchy title that would immediately appeal to that target market is critical. Step 2: Create a page on the main site that looks like an ordinary article page. Use images where appropriate. Step 3: Invite all your friends and colleagues, individually – not in a spammy email, to Digg the article. Start with our own personal and business networks and then expand to other acquaintances and friends-of-friends as much as possible. This is the hardest and most laborious part of the link-bait campaign. It can take hours to send out all the individual emails and chat notifications with the link embedded. Step 4: Be patient and watch the Diggs grow and the traffic swell.

As you write your next blog posting, comment, article or press release, heed the words of the experts and don’t get too greedy. Follow a rule of thumb that you need only to optimize for one phrase per content item in these socially connected sites, and never have more than two outgoing links. It is generally agreed that the more outgoing links a web page or a press release has, the more diluted the effect becomes. With the second generation of websites, or “Web 2.0? social media, like MySpace and Facebook, are only relevant or applicable to some marketing strategies, and even then require startling creativity in order to make any difference. Choose your off-site content pages carefully. Not only could they be a misplaced marketing effort, but also the cost of maintaining such a site with up-to-date and relevant content can be exhausting.

Social Media – a New Marketing Hot Spot?

admin    Social Media     Marketing, Media, Social, Spot

In the last few months community websites or blogs became increasingly popular. Everyone wanted to share his or her thoughts or experiences with the world by posting blogs, comments, pictures or even videos. The best known websites are such as YouTube, MySpace or Flickr.

Due to the high attention those pages get, companies got the idea to use them as a part of their online marketing mix. They post news articles linking back to their website or even submit short ad movies on YouTube.

To make it easier to integrate a website in these Social Media services, it needs to be optimised (Social Media Optimisation = SMO), which includes the offer of RSS-feeds or the integration of flickr-galleries or YouTube videos. The result of those marketing strategies is to achieve a higher brand visibility and to increase the traffic on your website. However the kind of users who will click on your website might not necessarily be 100 percent the right target group. SMO on its own is not enough to raise your business to the next level – but combined with other classic marketing activities, SEO and/or Pay Per Click campaigns you will soon be able to see the rewards of your work.

Read your Do’s & Don’ts list to ensure that your SMO campaign will be successful:

Do’s

* Participate in the community and build a good reputation

* Build friendships within the community

* Spread outlinks ; people might link back

* Choose the right time of the day to submit your article; it is said that mid-day during the week is the best time

Don’ts

* Don’t publish biased information

* Don’t cheat by buying votes; in the long term it won’t work and you will loose credibility and your reputation

* Don’t break any rules in the community

* Don’t publish irrelevant content

Contact Tetridia on +44 (0)20 8144 6655 for more information on how to raise your marketing to the next level using Search Engine Marketing.