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Social Network Traffic Tactics
Social media is the new-wave Internet marketing medium. Any business, from a one-person operation to Fortune 500 corporations now use Twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, and many more to target clients and recruit management persoannel.
Following is a continuation of yesterday's column of Social media Tips From the Field. That article was so jam-packed with specific information, it landed the #1 spot on Google for Sical Media Tips.
If you put into practice just a few of the tips that follow, I am sure you will benefit the same as those who provided their strategies.
After reading these tips, techniques, and strategies, leave leave a comment letting me know what you found helpful. Also, if you yourself have any social media tips you care to share, feel free to let us know.
On with the tips:
I use social media – from HARO to Twitter, Friendfeed, Stumble to Travelblog Exchange and Matador Travel -- almost exclusively to market my blog. I prefer this to traditional marketing because it allows me to develop relationships on a number of levels. I focus on building my reputation, helping people, answering questions and things grow organically from there. Many times, I have access to “big names” in the industry in a way I never would through cold calling, mailing or e-mailing. I have also found numerous business and personal relationships -- the line often blurs when dealing with social media-- that lead to project development and more marketing and PR. A current project: I’ll be at Burning Man this summer and am developing blog, podcast and audio coverage along with two other women I met through Twitter. I’ve turned to my social media sources, friends, acquaintances and the like in order to syndicate our coverage. Many of the projects we’ll be doing at Burning Man –an interview with an American soldier stationed in Iraq, for example – have also developed through social media and community websites. You can read more on my blog at http://www.thefutureisred.red where I’m currently running a series on how social media helps enhance the travel experience by helping users tap into local information and advice. Leigh Shulman http://www.thefutureisred.com
As the largest automotive lemon law firm in the Nation, we rely heavily on our Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Wordpress projects to increase our visibility. Please let me know what you would like to know. Michael J. Sacks http://www.lemonlaw.com
EcoDiscoveries has had great success with Twitter and MySpace. We’ve learned a lot about who and what to follow along the way. We have learned that MySpace is not as effective as Twitter. We’ve built extremely beneficial relationships via Twitter. We have used it to position our company as a news and info source as well as a platform for savings. Danielle Downs http://www.sorbtech.com
The company I work for, Blastro Networks, runs 3 music video websites (Blastro.com, Roxwel.com, Yallwire.com), and we use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube (and several other video sharing sites), OnlyWire, and PitchEngine to gain exposure on the web. Our initial efforts in marketing via social networks was with MySpace several years back. Twitter and Facebook are new tools for us (within the last 1-3 months), so we're working on building a following on these sites. Ferrin Schriner http://www.blastro.com
We've started engaging with and using Social Networking and my employees are doing a great job executing on it. We're using a blog, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook including managing multiple Twitter Handles, Co-Tweet for management, a "Personality" on Facebook as well as a company page and a host of other things. Jonathan D. Davis http://www.americanworkforce.com
I am a freelance graphic designer in Chicago and I use Twitter daily. I use it for personal use (as a cyber water cooler) but I also target the people I follow to potentially get freelance work from them or referrals. It's been helpful professionally and I've gotten a few inquiries from it. Emily Lozano http://www.aim.com
I am always letting people know where I will be appearing, what I have been writing, asking to sign up for mailing lists, posting pictures of jobs I have completed, posting inspirational notes, positioning myself as THE EXPERT on interior design. I used a great book, Marketing with New Media to show me the way. Barbara Green http://www.sensiblychic.biz
I use LinkedIn (love it!), Twitter and Facebook (personal/business). I use all for marketing purposes of my business-to promote my radio show guest/topics/show times, events/appearances and monthly product specials. I've also used LinkedIn to get guests for my radio show AND for expert "comments" for articles. I LOVE these sites to help reduce my research time, get exposure for other's products/services (and they've reciprocated to me as well!) and I love connecting w/others that I may not have met otherwise. I own Bante Design LLC-an Integrative Lifestyle Design company, that specializes in Healthy Home design. We have a products division, education (print, workshops, radio shows) and design. DeAnna Radaj http://www.bantedesign.com
I use social networking as a marketing tool. In fact, it's one of the strongest tools emerging for 21st century relationship-based business and marketing that we currently have. From web sites to email to eZines and now social media, the trends point to automated relationships and social networking's power to do that. I actively use Twitter and Facebook in my marketing augmenting my blog and email and web sites. I've even developed a Twitter and social media strategy that I use with my clients. Stephen Hultquist http://www.nocteam.org
I use social media. At this stage, I view it as an experiment. I have loaded up my LinkedIn profile and communicate to my network often. I have also experimented with Twitter. Linkedin seems to get a good response. If I post a note that I got a new customer, I get lots of “congrats” from the database and a few inquiries. “Who is the customer?” “What kind of work are you doing for them?” etc. I have over 350 direct connections on LinkedIn and about 100 times that a level away. Last time I checked, there were nearly 3 Million two levels away. Mind boggling, right? My counterpart in our New England office has been using LinkedIn for a couple of years to try to generate leads and reports that she has had 6 customers as a result. I am still waiting. As for Twitter, I used it for a couple of months just to see if I could perceive some value. As a Boomer, I feel like I need to stay on top of this stuff to ensure that I am not missing the next big thing. But, as the teenage son of my wife’s friend recently put it, “WC?” Who cares?? He doesn’t care if his friend is on the way to the mall or if he is bored in math class. As it turns out neither am I. I hear that Facebook is the place to be. While Linkedin has too much structure and Twitter has none, Facebook is rumored to be working on a middle ground that will appeal to business people. John Calia http://www.TatumLLC.com
I currently use Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin to help market my new venture at www.AskTheWealthSquad.com/blog/ It is a blog on wealth creation focused primarily on people interested in starting a small business. Once traffic is established, I will be offering coaching programs and other tools for small business owners. I believe all of them are needed for a well rounded marketing campaign and can be leveraged by adding software tools that update all of them at the same time to reduce the time involved. Marketing overall is a story. If you have a story to tell, you can use any tool where your customer is to tell it but it takes a comprehensive vision and well laid out plan to succeed. Scott Lovingood www.AskTheWealthSquad.com/blog
I am an artist, psychic reader , and meditation teacher living in Los Angeles. I use Facebook and Twitter every day to market my businesses, and have gotten new clients and students this way. People who have been my clients and students have recommended me to others on Facebook, which has also helped, as I have the kind of business that benefits greatly from word of mouth advertising. This is why I like to use Facebook. Besides my own personal profile, I've also got a page on Facebook for my business, and currently have nearly 300 fans. I also have a blog which I post original content to regularly, at least 4-5 times a week. When I publish a new post, I announce it on Facebook and Twitter. I've received many new readers this way. My goal is to continue using social media to build my brand and have my work be seen. Kris Cahill http://www.kriscahill.com
I do use Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Positive experiences: yes, my exposure is increased. More people I didn't know I knew want to link with me/friend with me/follow me on Twitter. Negative: how the heck do I keep up with everyone?? (I don't.) I'm still exploring good ways to use all the tools. I'm organizing a conference for August and we expect to do some sort of live Twitter feed/wall/thing. Johanna Rothman http://www.jrothman.com
I use Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks to market my book, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves. I incorporate topical news headlines and other ideas into creating taglines that I then use in Twitter posts, which are automatically posted as status updates on my Facebook page. One recent post that I used was "Does your career need a bailout? http://www.thegetajobbook.com". I've seen as much as an 800% increase week-on-week for visitors to my site coming from Facebook and Twitter, and sales of my book, resume writing services, and career strategy sessions have increased as well. One word of warning to those marketing on Facebook: don't overdo it. Many people on Facebook get offended when they see too many "sales pitches" - so use those sparingly, and intersperse them with lots of other posts that help show that you're human and not just some unstoppable marketing machine (or worse - a Spam machine). David Wright http://www.TheGetAJobBook.com
I work at CKR Interactive, a recruitment advertising agency. We use a variety of social media sites for our corporate marketing efforts, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging and YouTube. We also use sites like these for our clients to help them with their recruitment advertising and marketing efforts. Please let me know if we can provide any information or answer any questions for you on our and our clients’ experiences with using these sites as a marketing tool. We’d be more than happy to help! Skye Callan http://www.ckrinteractive.com
We use LinkedIn as a marketing tool. It's used to:
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Publicize seminars & webinars that I lead or have led on Information Security topics
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Articles that I'm writing or researching
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Hiring staff & interns
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Raising our Google Ranking
I'm playing with a new tool that let's me market webcasts via LinkedIn. Am very excited about this. I also provide free seminars to networking groups, non-profits and business owners on using LinkedIn to grow their businesses. I am surprised/amazed at how well some people in my network used LinkedIn to market their businesses & affinity groups. Rajesh Goel http://www.brainlink.com
As most of my restaurants have slashed their ad budgets, I currently am using social networking as a major element. Facebook, Myspace and Twitter are my best marketing tools out there to use for free. On all sites, just upload your address book and see who is already socially networking and add them as 'friends'. Then send updates to consistently grow your fan base, send updates of specials and events as well as get fans to join your regular email lists. It is easy to start and use on a regular basis. Anything I put on there spreads information about my restaurants like wildfire! According to research, businesses that advertise in a recession usually come out of it ahead of their competitors who cut advertising. It is important to stay visible and not rely solely on your current customer base to make it through the slow times. If there is no money available for advertising, there are many resources to keep your business visible but you must be creative.
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Create a blog and tag stories with key search words
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Social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. are free and being used by many businesses, small and large
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Do you have a current commercial already filmed? If so, get it on You Tube, your website and post on your social network profiles
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Add a sign up button on your website and send specials, events or news to your customers via email
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Design a postcard or brochure with an offer for your business. Distribute at trade shows, networking events, to local convention centers, visitor bureaus, concierges, area businesses, event gift bags, etc.
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Get involved with a non-profit. You will get great press while giving back to the community
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Read the fine print at the end of newspaper and magazine articles. Writers are always looking for ideas and suggestions for stories. Pitch an idea and you may get free press.
These are just a few ideas of keeping your business in the eye of the consumer in a cost effective manner. Whether you have the funds to advertise in traditional media or not, the key to being successful in marketing your business is to make the time, put a plan in place and execute it effectively. Lorrie Dixson http://www.eskimoadvertising.com
For more social media tips, techniques and strategies, check out http:///www.drdavehaleonline.com
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look forward to your new updates of information
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