Social Mediums such as Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter are changing the face of modern marketing. These sites allow people to create a “virtual” network with individuals and businesses on a global scale and provide a forum for expression as well as an opportunity to promote your business for FREE!
In traditional marketing businesses invest thousands of dollars for advertising that requires customers to come across you by chance and create 1 way communication. In other words the customer has to contact you. In the modern age of marketing social mediums allow two way communication and people choose to interact with you by “following” (Twitter), “friending” (Facebook), or “connecting” (Linked in). There are currently very few websites with a larger number of daily views than Facebbook and Twitter. Having an account and posting on these sites is a quick way to help your company appear in searches.
Facebook, while more consumer focused (more business applications planned for the future), allows you to create an interaction similar to blogging and is good for improving search results online. Linked in and Twitter are important business tools and require a minimal time commitment to be effective. The new Twitter application Tweet Deck allows you to post Twitter messages simultaneously to Twitter, Facebook, and My Space.
It’s important to tweet as often as possible and create maximum exposure in order to attract more followers. When someone is following you on Twitter your posts show on their page providing additional visibility to you. For this reason it’s important to note that not every tweet should be sales focused in nature.
Your business is more valuable as a resource so make sure to provide useful information such as tips, ideas, and other resources in addition to sales and promotions. Another very useful web tool is the Blog. This provides a way for you to become a resource to potential customers. It can be an internal blog attached to your website or you can contribute to outside sources (you can also subscribe to certain sites so that your blogs are included in other sites). All social mediums provide you will the opportunity to control your message and a conversation tool to make your brand interactive.
Remember if you aren’t taking advantage of opportunities for FREE promotion of your business then you are wasting your time and money. Take the time to spend some of your time in social media, it’s worth the investment.
