Social Media Marking is all about marketing your tangible and intangible assets through social networking tools. You do this by engaging and interacting with your fans.
So in this basic definition of Social Media marketing we have defined three basic elements: Assets, Social Networking Tools, and Fans.
Let’s take a look at these, and think about using them all together to encompass the opportunity to engage and interact.
First are your assets. Assets in this case include everything you want to market, from the tangible (your website) to the intangible (your personality) and everything in between. As you perform your social media marketing, be aware of your assets, what type of asset they are, and when it is best to market them.
For instance, when you are meeting with someone in person for the first time, you are working at a very emotional level, which is the best time to focus on your personality. Focus on getting to know the person and remember to be genuine. Once you get to know a person, or have time to engage with people online you can focus more on driving traffic to your website to learn more details about your products and services.
Second is your social networking tools. The three I most commonly address are your blog, Facebook, and Twitter. These are of course the most common and most important tools, but don’t forget that your social networking tools including business networks like LinkedIn, and even entertainment networks like YouTube.
Start with your blog by posting original content that is relevant to your cause, and then repost and engage your audience with that content on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure your connections on LinkedIn know what your business is doing, and have some fun creating interactive content on YouTube. Even Facebook allows you to create video now, and it’s a fun way to get your fans involved and to generate interest with creative communications.
And Third is are your fans. Fans are everyone from family and friends to employees, channel partners distributors and customers. Everyone is a potential fan, so watch for opportunities to interact and engage with them. Primarily, look for opportunities to include the people you meet in all your social media networks. Whenever you meet someone in person, ask them for a card or information so you can follow up, and invite them to participate with you in your social networks.
I often get invitations the next day from people I meet at an event. I was a little uncomfortable with this at first because I wanted to maintain a private network of close friends, but I soon learned that I could create a robust network of friends and business associates, and that people in either category could participate with me in the other; in other words; you never know where that next opportunity will come from, so work to capture them all.
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Tags: Social Media
