Ten years ago, internet marketing was much simpler than it is now. You had a website to promote your business, and that's exactly what it did. It was basically an online brochure that told your potential customers what you would provide for them, and gave them all the contact details to reach if if they wanted to do business with you.
By now you already know that social media is one of the big marketing tools at your disposal. Sometimes social media experts make it sound like all you need to do is open up a Twitter account, and suddenly you'll be interacting with thousands of people and watching your content go viral. If you've been using social media and have had trouble getting any momentum going, you'll know it's not really as easy as that. There are, however, a few things you can do to start getting the ball rolling in terms of engaging your target audience and getting them interested in passing on your message.
Okay, so you've got a Facebook page for your business, you've started a Twitter account, and you're all hooked up on YouTube. Now what? How is all this social networking going to help you get what you ultimately need - sales leads? While having a social media presence is essential for modern businesses, creating accounts is only the beginning of what you need to do. Your social media visitors need to get a sense of your brand, of what kind of company they're dealing with, and of how your product or service can enrich their lives.
If you are working with partners, associates, or employees in your business, there's no point in trying to pretend that the use of social media won't get complicated at some point. It's one thing when someone in the organization says something unacceptable in the office and it is dealt with internally, but when someone in your company says something unacceptable on the internet, the implications are much greater. Not only does it have the potential of being seen by millions of people, but it can have long-lasting consequences. Once an ill-advised tweet or Facebook update is out there, it's out there, and even if it gets deleted, often by that time it's too late and the damage is done.
If you spend any of your free time on the internet, chances are you have a personal Facebook account, Twitter account, and maybe a few other accounts here and there. If you're also using social media for marketing your business, then you probably have separate accounts set up under your company's name, as well. Regardless of whether you're a sole proprietor or have an office full of employees, someone has to be running your social media accounts, updating and responding to activity. That someone may be you, or it may be an associate.
Over the last several months, I have heard many colleagues and clie
nts trumpet the same theme: What is Twitter and why should I care? Twitter is a microblogging tool and one of the fastest growing web brands on the Internet. Businesses are now getting smarter and using Twitter for marketing reach and brand awareness. If you haven't already started using Twitter, now is the time to start using this powerful social network to build your followers. The tools below, compiled by Pierre Zarokian of Submit Express, will help you to use Twitter more effectively.