Social Media:

 

Social Media Marketing is a popular term nowadays, but many people don’t understand exactly what it is. First, let’s look at Social Media. The definition of Social Media is:

 

“The methods which includes tools, software and websites that allows people or a group of people to communicate and share are defined as Social Media”

 

Forums, blogs, toolbars and bookmarking tools are all included in the Social Media definition providing they permit people to communicate and share.  

Why do we need Social Media?

 

Social Media is a social phenomenon that plays a huge part in allowing people to connect online. We can use Social Media to do almost anything - discuss topics in forums, find unique information, chat with people, look for employment, ask questions to other users, and, most importantly, we can find people with common interests. Along with these many uses, people have begun to see the potential to promote their businesses and increase website traffic. This is where Social Media Marketing comes from.  

Phenomena of Social Media Marketing:

 

There are many people who have made a business out of increasing website traffic. Practically every business on the website wants a top-notch Social Media Marketing campaign that will get them to the top of the search engines and increase their traffic flow.

 

The best way to get Social Media attention is through blogging. If you are able to post blogs that are interesting to people, it is a great way to attract hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people to your site. If you are aiming to increase you traffic flow by posting blogs on a regular basis, your site needs to be prepared to take a large influx of traffic.

  

Let’s look at Digg as an example. Digg is a popular social bookmarking site. “Social bookmarking” is a place where you can add your links, explore new sites and share your favorite links with other users. It is probable that Digg’s homepage has the ability to deal with heavy traffic on a daily basis.

 

The key is to select traffic that is relevant to your business. Who are you trying to sell to? While many businesses are using Social Media Networking site to grow their businesses, it is imperative to look at what sites will help you promote your business to interested consumers. For example, a small investment firm marketing on Facebook probably will not find as much success as someone in the music or fashion industry.

 

Social Media Marketing Strategy:

 

Social Media Marketing involves three important strategies:

 

Build a strong profile:

Building a strong profile on Social Networking sites consists of making a lot of friends and growing your network. Increasing your network is an easy, free way of getting your name out there.

 

Create contents for your users:

Make your profile appealing. Social Media users are looking at so many different pages every day it is easy to get bored and stop paying attention. Your page needs to be able to grab the attention of your desired audience.

  

Direct the traffic from popular sites:

YouTube is a good site to try this out on. Create a video and post it on YouTube, then link it to your site. It is going to be much more difficult to bring people to your site to watch a video, but if they see it on YouTube, they just might click on your link out of curiosity.

 

Most Popular Social Media Sites:

 

Here are the big guns in Social Media Marketing. These sites should be at the top of your Social Media Marketing campaign.

MySpace

MySpace is an international site that offers individualized profiles, email, discussion forums, games, communities, video, photo and weblog space. Ranked #6 in the top ten ranking.

Facebook

Facebook is probably now the best known Social Media Networking site. It is the 7^th most visited site in the top ten ranking. Facebook is aimed more towards the college crowd with more defined networks and the ability to add applications to personalize your experience. Creating an interesting Facebook app is a good way to bring customers to your website.

Digg

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content found anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blogs, forums and communities.

 

Reddit

Reddit is a social news website on which users can post links to content on the web. Other users can vote on the posted links causing them to appear more or less prominently on the Reddit home page.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is a web browser plug-in and an internet community that allows its users to discover and rate web pages, photos and videos. Web pages are presented when the user clicks the “Stumble!” button on the browser’s toolbar. 

Using these sites to your advantage

 

Each of these sites presents a different opportunity for marketing. From creating a downloadable application on Facebook to linking your blog to Digg to creating a profile that attracts hundreds of friends on MySpace, they can all help you increase your business’s online popularity and customer base.

Related posts:

1. Role of Social Networking Sites in Social Media Marketing (SMM)
2. An Idiot’s Guide to Social Media Marketing
3. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING VS SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
4. Social Media Marketing: DIY (Do-it-yourself)
5. 5 Pillars of Social Media Marketing