You Need a Presence
According to a recent study by Cone Business in Social Media, “93% of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites and 85% believe that these companies should use these services to interact with consumers.”
To get the most out of your efforts think in terms of how you can contribute and establish yourself as a reliable resource. Focus on networking, building relationships, and holding conversations. Social media and social networking are simply global approaches to connecting with people. Be a resource rather than a vendor. Have a unique message.
A Global Reach Is Very Attainable
Social media marketing allows you to have a global reach with a minimum of investment. Solopreneurs used to have very limited market reach. Of course you can invest substantial money, but you don’t need a lot of money to get started. There is an investment of time, but when you consider the return on that investment, it becomes a nonissue.
Where to Participate
Before immediately jumping into a particular social network, do a bit of research. It’s a pretty safe bet that locations such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are great places for you to be, but investigate the activities of social networks you’re considering. If your market is extremely niched, the most popular locations might not be the best use of your time. Let’s say you are a dental professional wanting to reach other dental professionals. A location like Web Dental would be a better use of your time than Facebook for this particular market. But if you’re a dentist wanting to reach potential patients, you could use Facebook very effectively by localizing your efforts.
In traditional marketing, much was measured by return on investment (ROI): If you spend X you should get Y in return. Not so with social media. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media were never intended for push-marketing messages. They are intended to be personal communication tools. However, now that some social networks offer advertising, there is a focus on ROI for some investments.
Plan, Schedule, and Participate
Develop a plan for what you want to accomplish through SMM. If you plan to use various locations to establish name recognition and visibility, determine where you are going to get the greatest result for your involvement.
Here’s a shortcut for getting maximum exposure with an investment of as little as twenty minutes a day: Start by answering the question, “What would my community be most interested in? What’s a problem they need a solution to?” Based on the answers, focus your efforts on:
- The topic
- The best locations
- The efficiency of what you’re doing
The bottom line is, the more visible you are the more you will attract your ideal clients. Social media markating allows you to gain incredible visibility with focused attention. Start today to stake your claim.
I find that the “Where to Participate” isn’t always so obvious. What have been your findings?
About the author
Kathleen Gage has been actively marketing on the Internet since 1997, building a multiple-six-figure business and a stellar reputation for honesty, outstanding content, and success. She’s taught thousands her internet marketing methods in seminars and training programs. For the first time Gage’s signature tips and techniques are organized into one easy-to-read book.
An early adopter of the Internet, Gage is recognized as one of the world’s most renowned online marketing experts. In Power Up for Profits!: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Online Marketing she addresses the must-dos of any business regardless of industry, market, or service offerings.
Portions of this post are from Kathleen Gage’s book, Power Up for Profits! The Smart Woman’s Guide to Online Marketing. For a very limited time you receive three wonderful bonus gifts from Kathleen – 1) How To Make Your First $100 Online Report 2) How to Sell Thousands from Any Platform 3) The Truth about Making Money on the Internet Teleseminar
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As an inspirational author, I have found facebook to be a useful platform for delivering my message as well as for promoting my work. Twitter on the other hand, remains elusive to me. I use it but really don’t understand it and why it is so popular as a social media venue. I also think Pinterest is useful for combining your message with lots of bling.
Interesting Michele. For me, Twitter gets me more than followers, meaning subscribers and ebook buyers. Also LinkedIn is by far the best for me. Facebook is no close to either of these two. What I bet we have in common is doing what Kathleen Gage mentions here, being a resource rather than a vendor who has a unique message. Thanks!
Nice post, great reminder for the small business owner, Pat! 😀
A quick note though – about the ROI. Although it is true that ROI with SMM is not the “exact science” that it is with traditional form of marketing, you still can and should pay attention to ROI from SMM – and not only from the advertising…
You can experiment and see how your activities on your FB page (or lack of such) impacts the organic search traffic your website gets and the related sales. You can also configure Google Analytics and track “social assisted” conversions…
Nowadays, social media is such an integrate part of the modern marketing mix of every business that more players are emerging and offering viable options to track your ROI on social media.
Good luck!
Good advice and examples that I agree with. In my case, Pinterest was a waste of time. What pictures would I post? Interesting to note that Michele has a different experience.
Linkedin works best for me followed by Twitter and Facebook. Am actively thinking of how to make best use of Google Plus since it’s becoming a must, if we want to come up high on SERPs, that is.
The global aspect is great. But you have to know and understand how different cultures work before targetting them. If not, you can make serious mistakes.
Yes Catarina! I think Google Plus is moving quickly to be in those top 3.
Culturally, you make a good point. For me I’ve found what helps with that is to both listen and be open to not knowing it all. I’ve had 3 or 4 global collaborations working closely with people from Canada, UK, Netherlands, Russia, India, and a few more countries. It is amazing how both different and yet similar we all are.
Thanks!
Thank you for your comment Patricia. I believe I am both a resource and a vendor on social media. It’s just that the larger percentage of my postings (on Facebook, at least), are geared toward delivering a message.
Great post. I don’t think I’ve gotten any book sales from Twitter. I do use Facebook and LinkedIn. More and more groups are popping up on LinkedIn that are useful.
More and more groups on LinkedIn. More and more social networking sites it seems. We have to go where our customers are, not just with what is popular or trending, in particular, if those buyers aren’t there. Thanks Jacqueline!
Developing a plan when you want to accomplish anything through your SM activities.I am still working where I am getting my best results. right now it’s Pinterest, G+ and Twitter. 🙂
My SM activity plan changes frequently. I’m not surprise about Pinterest for you Susan. With your art and illustrations, it makes a perfect fit. Thanks.
The effectiveness of a venue is so specific to what you’re doing. Stumbleupon, LinkedIn and Tumblr worked well for me initially, but Twitter and Google+ are beginning to get traction, Pinterest, not so much. I’m not ready to deal with Facebook beyond my personal page at this point.
In my day job Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are where we focus our energy, though we will soon have to pay more attention to Google+, YouTube and Pinterest. The biggest challenge when you are a charitable organization is the resources, sometimes its not having enough hands or money and sometimes its too many hands and not enough strategy. One of the biggest challenges with social media is the assumption that anyone can do it, which leads to a lot of participate and not enough plan and schedule. 🙂
Plan, schedule and evaluate.
I wonder how many of us stop to evaluate the results our participation gets us? Are we adding subscribers? Increasing engagement? Generating sales? Are we getting what our plan is designed for?
Debra it’s all a regular challenge for certain. Thanks!
Patricia, I think you’ve hit something on the head here: Be solution-minded on social media and you’ll gain traction. Too often people utilize social media as a “hey!! look at me!!” platform, rather than a tool to give their audience what they want. I often find it useful before posting to think “what would I want to to read if I was reading my posts?” – and BAM! solution! These kinds of updates always get great response and while it does take time and consistency, using social media tools in this way WILL generate connections and leads.
…Found you via Bloggers Helping Bloggers on LinkedIn – great to read your blog!!
I agree that knowing where to spend my social media time is not always obvious and that having a plan is essential ! Great questions she asks to help in making decisions.
As a mom reaching out to other moms, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are all powerful to be on, but without a plan they can become a huge time suck and source of frustration.
Great share Pat! Thank you 🙂
For me the best way to know where to spend my time online, is to spend my time online WITH that plan. Ideally I think 90 days is about right to see any traction and evaluate from there.
Lots to consider for certain.
Thanks Valerie!
As social media is my beat, you would think that I could track the ROI for my efforts. But I don’t sell a tangible product or a book. The value for me has been that I know a lot about how to leverage social media and many companies — even the largest — are way behind. I’m amazed, really, at the big name organizations that need help with strategy. My blog and LinkedIn are working best for me. I’ve been searched on LinkedIn that resulted in some business. But I find the best way to get new business is the old-fashioned way, through referrals.
This is a great article to concentrate on when you are discussing your SM plan. The worst thing to do is concentrate on outlets that will not benefit you or your customers. There are so many available avenues that it can be daunting to figure out. I believe right now the biggest ones to start your focus on is Google +, Twittter, Linked In Groups, and possibly Facebook.
Long time no see Elizabeth! If you’re going to be online for business, then you want to be where your customers are not where other people suggest you NEED to be. That’s going to be different for each of us. Google + though, for me is a must be simply because who is it that controls who is found where. Yep. Thanks!
Jeannette it sounds like you know where to participate. And that people you want to find you for your services are finding you there. Had to smile about your referrals comment. Seems to be an almost lost art. Thanks.