Social media marketing is changing the marketing landscape so fast that companies are struggling to adapt their strategies and tactics. What worked in 2001 or even last year ago is becoming less and less effective.
Planning to publish a PR article in six months with traditional print media could mean completely missing the marketing window of opportunity. Booking bus or outdoor advertising takes time you might not have and not be able to measure.
So what are some key elements you need to keep in mind to market on a social web?
1. Share
Think sharing. What do people want to share? Then publish and promote it. This starts with a shareable and compelling headline.
2. Go Real Time
Social media marketing involves publishing in real time and not next week or next month topical posts and tweets will help you catch the trend and topic wave. It also means you need to respond in real time to complaints,issues and inquiries. The days of publishing 3 months or 6 months in advance are fast disappearing as the market may have changed in that time.
3. Educate – Don’t Sell
People no longer want to be “sold to”. Social marketing is about informing and solving peoples problems with answers and information whether that be from your blog. Links in your tweets or updates and information on Facebook
4. Entertain – Don’t Market
We live in an information age that discards the bland and embraces the “WOW”. Facebook pages and updates that entertain whether that be with competitions, humor or the unexpected are the links that will be shared.
5. Go Multichannel
Mono channel is not enough these days, whether that be email marketing or a niche magazine advertisement. You need to be on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogs as a minimum. Social Media can provide you with the channels to be ubiquitous (everywhere) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
6. Give Information Away For Free
Free gets shared it doesn’t mean that you give everything away but enough to build trust and spread your content to the global village.
7. Think Multimedia
Text on its own doesn’t cut it anymore you need to provide information in ways that meets different peoples expectations and wants. You need to provide content in different media. Gen Y loves video, Baby Boomers like email and text. Find out what type of media your audience wants and give it to them. The broadband high speed web is now a a multimedia experience
8. Think Like a Publisher
The days of just sending emails with a special offer or a brochure to a letter box are fast disappearing. Consumers are now researching your company on the web with Google searches on the web
9. Target Your Niche
Tribes and fans find you and share you to their community. On Twitter you need to follow leaders and people in your niche so that when you tweet they will retweet you to their followers who will have similar interests. Facebook marketing can target demographics including roles, interests and geography.
10. Show Your Passion
Remember social marketing involves passion as if you are not passionate and motivated about your niche it will show. You cannot fake passion and a passionate publisher will shine through and be shared
11. Listen
Remember listen to your audience and they will tell you what they want, what solutions they need for their problems and then provide it. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blog comments will reveal a wealth of information about your target market
12. Engage
After listening to your market you then are ready to start communicating in real time with messaging systems that they are comfortable with whether that be Twitter, Facebook or email.
Is there anything else I have missed? I look forward to your thoughts.
Image by toprankonlinemarketing
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