Is social media a marketing tool?

The views on how social media should be used are wide-ranging from 'it's a social network and people don't want to be sold at' to 'it's a great way to get your marketing message out to a huge audience'.  I think both are right!

Although some social media networks are more business-oriented, such as Linked In, nobody wants to be sold at; you don't, I don't, so why would anyone else?  However, marketing is not just sales, it encompasses education, knowledge sharing, information and opportunities.

The secret is to take the time to get to know the social media platforms you use and build your network on them up. Providing good quality information in a form that is appropriate to the platform is an excellent way to develop your reputation as an expert.  Facebook is fun, personal and light-hearted, whilst Linked In is more business focused, Pinterest is highly visual and Twitter is focused on the short, highly focused bite-sized comments.

Choose your social media platforms and get to know them and the people you connect with and you'll find that most people appreciate good quality information.

Having a social media strategy regarding what you post, where, when and how often is essential and, even if you are using it for marketing it's important to interact with people.  If they comment or connect with you, respond, don't just be a broadcast-only person.

Look at the comments on your Twitter feed, Facebook wall, Linked In status update feed etc.  Be generous in retweeting, recommending, liking and generally acknowledging  content you like or have something to say about. Get involved - it need not take hours, a few minutes a couple of times a day should be enough.

When you've developed your presence people won't mind if you occasionally post special offers, teasers (find out how to ... or did you know that ...) that link back to your website.

Make sure that your short posts connect with more in-depth information on your website or blog.  Capture interested people with an offer of a free report or tips sheet and your list will grow, giving you a database to whom you can send more marketing messages.

Social media is a marketing tool, if you use it intelligently as a funnel to bring the people who have an interest in your products and services to your website.

7 Steps to Better Blogs

If you want to use the internet to market your business effectively you need to become a blogger.

Why?

Because:

• If your blog is on your website you’ll be adding fresh and relevant content – which the search engines love.

• If your blog is a stand-alone – like this one – you’re creating an online presence that develops an information bank around your area of expertise and will help you to be found by the search engines.

• If you search out other people who blog to the same kind of audience as you, but are not in competition (perhaps in an allied business) you can guest blog on each other’s blogs and reach a much bigger audience.

Tips to help you to blog better

1. Pick up a pen and a piece of paper and write a list of subjects that you could write blogs about.  Keep them related to your area of expertise.  Having a focus will help you to get started.
2. Take each subject and jot down a list of points you want to make about that subject then organise these into a logical order.  A structure to write around will make writing easier.
3. When you’re writing try to keep it as concise and focused as possible.  People lose interest in long rambling posts.
4. Write your item first then create the headline.  It’s best to write several headlines before you find one that works.  Writing guru, Ted Nicholas, says you should spend 80% of your time on the headline and only 20% on the article.  If your headline isn’t good people won’t be interested enough to read the blog.
5. Write a list of 3-5 key terms that you think people will search for that your blog addresses.  These should be included somewhere in the blog if possible – and they should also form the tags or labels that you attach to the blog.
6. Get into the habit of writing weekly until you just do it.  Set aside a regular time and day to do this.
7. Learn to edit.  A good way to do this is to write and then leave it for a day or two before posting, you often see it more objectively and can trim and sharpen it up effectively.  Alternatively, get a friend or colleague to give you some honest feedback.

You don’t have to write perfect English to be a good blogger, but it’s wise to check your spelling, grammar and punctuation so that you don’t turn people off.  I often write in Word and use the checkers there, before posting a text version into my blog.

Consistency is the key – happy blogging!

Online marketing that works

People get confused about Online Marketing, "Is that social media?" I get asked.  The answer is that social media plays a part in online marketing, but there's more to it than that.  The key to success is to have a strategy to share your knowledge and raise your profile in a number of online locations.

So what should be included in your online marketing portfolio?

• Social media - but don't just put information everywhere you can find, choose the networks where your target audience hang out and then post information that those people want.

• Blogs - your own, where you can share your knowledge, give advice, provide tips and 'how to' items, and other people's blogs either by intelligent comments in related subjects or by guest blogging.  Don't overlook inviting people with a similar target market to yours to guest blog for you.  They'll promote it to their followers who will learn about your expertise at the same time.

• Articles - placing appropriate articles on sites such as ezine Articles is a great way to raise your profile, but remember they need to be unique for each post.  It's worth submitting articles to the online journals that your target market reads too.

• Newsletters - it's rare that people will voluntarily sign up for a newsletter on your website, but if you offer them a tempting report or 'How to ...' download they are usually willing to part with their contact details.  A well-written, lively, focused - and short - newsletter is a great way to keep those people warm, until they're ready to buy what you're offering.

• Reports and White Papers - a report or white paper is simply a collection of information on a specific subject that explores the current thinking, research, state-of-play and can position you as a thought leader.  However, remember to keep a check on the reports or white papers you offer to ensure they continue to be up-to-date.

• Ebooks - Creating an ebook around your area of expertise is a great way to gain a reputation as an expert.  If you get it published on Amazon for Kindle too you'll be opening it up to a huge marketplace. 

• Elearning material - If you know how to put together courses that can be shared using either video clips, pdf files or webinars then you've got a valuable tool to engage people.  You can offer free tasters to tempt people to sign up for a paid programme.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but certainly it reaches far beyond Facebook, Twitter and Linked In!