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| Social Media |
The transition has been challenging for marketing people, who woke up day to recognize that the business world had suddenly changed and traditional marketing methods were no longer effective in the new technique of things.
Since social media first started making waves, businesses have been hard at work trying to make sense of all the new information that flows in through social platforms such as facebook, twitter, linkedin and so plenty of others.
The study revealed that 71 percent of the cmos see themselves as unprepared to manage the immense volumes of information generated by their businesses.
In october 2011, ibm interviewed over one,700 chief marketing officers (cmos) to receive insights on how the marketing profession is responding to the forces changing business and markets today.
The most prominent challenges for these cmos include:
1. How to cope with information explosion;
2. How to make use of social media;
3. How to manage an increasing number of channel and tool options; and
4. How to exploit shifting consumer demographics.
Much has been said and written about using social media to promote companies and their products, and to facilitate sales. But, the power of social networks for businesses goes beyond merely making sales.
For businesses to truly harness social platforms and prosper within the new business landscape, they must seize and exploit every advantage social media has to offer.
Here are some ways your business can use social media.
Since social media first started making waves, businesses have been hard at work trying to make sense of all the new information that flows in through social platforms such as facebook, twitter, linkedin and so plenty of others.
The study revealed that 71 percent of the cmos see themselves as unprepared to manage the immense volumes of information generated by their businesses.
In october 2011, ibm interviewed over one,700 chief marketing officers (cmos) to receive insights on how the marketing profession is responding to the forces changing business and markets today.
The most prominent challenges for these cmos include:
1. How to cope with information explosion;
2. How to make use of social media;
3. How to manage an increasing number of channel and tool options; and
4. How to exploit shifting consumer demographics.
Much has been said and written about using social media to promote companies and their products, and to facilitate sales. But, the power of social networks for businesses goes beyond merely making sales.
For businesses to truly harness social platforms and prosper within the new business landscape, they must seize and exploit every advantage social media has to offer.
Here are some ways your business can use social media.
Tell your story
sure you can post business tips on facebook and twitter, and these will be of immense value to your audience, but showing people the actual you, or showing what truly goes on behind the scenes in your company can be as compelling.
People love nice tales, and social media gives you the chance and the stage for you to do some storytelling. Share posts about your interests, and post lots of pics about what you (or your company) are passionate about.
Focus your efforts
Find that (or) social network with the largest concentration of your target audiences, then focus your efforts and resources on that network.
In lieu of stretching yourself and resources across lots of social media accounts, devote your attention to your target audience and the sites they frequent most. Create a content and engagement strategy that leverages the features and strengths of that particular social network.
Finding out where your audience is will take some research. Use google to find white papers or articles that might have research about social media and try to figure out the best fit for your social media promotion plan.
Ignite social media has posted their 2011 social network analysis document and I thought you might find it useful.
Create a lead generation machine
for example, you could offer a free white paper or ebook in exchange for a follow/re-tweet, like, connection etc. Another thing some companies offer is a great coupon offer. This seems to work well for e commerce sites. Reciprocity goes a long way and people don't mind helping you in exchange for a free gift. If it is not costing them anything.
Maintain your brand image
invest in a consistent brand design for your social media accounts. Most social media platforms have a default look which you can often personalize. Take advantage of these options and modify the look to over the same brand picture across multiple social media sites.
Sites like youtube and twitter let you modify backgrounds and logos to accomplish a glance that is more inline together with your corporate id. Linkedin however, is less flexible.
Use video
facebook offers some customization options like pages/tabs, you can upload your logo and although they don't let you modify your page's background, you can personalize it to match the theme you are incorporating in to the other social media sites.
Make positive you optimize your video's page and the meta knowledge within the video itself. Embed your keywords and search engines will find your videos simpler. Youtube, every day motion and and other video site you submit to will be able to scan this meta knowledge to decide what your video is about. With the right combination of optimization and quality content you can generate a viral video that drives thousands (if not millions) of new visitors to your website.
If a picture paints a thousand words, then video projects a million. People basically love to watch moving pics, and you can take advantage of this fact to promote your company and its products. It is simpler (and for plenty of more fun) to watch a video than it is to read an article. There is also the added advantage of possibly making it to the top of the search engine results pages with properly tagged video content.
sure you can post business tips on facebook and twitter, and these will be of immense value to your audience, but showing people the actual you, or showing what truly goes on behind the scenes in your company can be as compelling.
People love nice tales, and social media gives you the chance and the stage for you to do some storytelling. Share posts about your interests, and post lots of pics about what you (or your company) are passionate about.
Focus your efforts
Find that (or) social network with the largest concentration of your target audiences, then focus your efforts and resources on that network.
In lieu of stretching yourself and resources across lots of social media accounts, devote your attention to your target audience and the sites they frequent most. Create a content and engagement strategy that leverages the features and strengths of that particular social network.
Finding out where your audience is will take some research. Use google to find white papers or articles that might have research about social media and try to figure out the best fit for your social media promotion plan.
Ignite social media has posted their 2011 social network analysis document and I thought you might find it useful.
Create a lead generation machine
for example, you could offer a free white paper or ebook in exchange for a follow/re-tweet, like, connection etc. Another thing some companies offer is a great coupon offer. This seems to work well for e commerce sites. Reciprocity goes a long way and people don't mind helping you in exchange for a free gift. If it is not costing them anything.
Maintain your brand image
invest in a consistent brand design for your social media accounts. Most social media platforms have a default look which you can often personalize. Take advantage of these options and modify the look to over the same brand picture across multiple social media sites.
Sites like youtube and twitter let you modify backgrounds and logos to accomplish a glance that is more inline together with your corporate id. Linkedin however, is less flexible.
Use video
facebook offers some customization options like pages/tabs, you can upload your logo and although they don't let you modify your page's background, you can personalize it to match the theme you are incorporating in to the other social media sites.
Make positive you optimize your video's page and the meta knowledge within the video itself. Embed your keywords and search engines will find your videos simpler. Youtube, every day motion and and other video site you submit to will be able to scan this meta knowledge to decide what your video is about. With the right combination of optimization and quality content you can generate a viral video that drives thousands (if not millions) of new visitors to your website.
If a picture paints a thousand words, then video projects a million. People basically love to watch moving pics, and you can take advantage of this fact to promote your company and its products. It is simpler (and for plenty of more fun) to watch a video than it is to read an article. There is also the added advantage of possibly making it to the top of the search engine results pages with properly tagged video content.
Keep your eyes and ears open
Social media gives you special ringside seats to the lives of your customers and prospects, providing you with boundless opportunities to learn their desires and preferences. One time you know what your audience is looking for you can become a great resource for them.
Be valuable
with social media, you have the chance to share valuable knowledge together with your audiences. This helps you position yourself as a subject matter resource and compels audiences to keep coming back for more.
Try to write something helpful and offer it to the public at no cost. Become an authority within your space and people will answer your offers in a more favorable way.
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