Social Media Marketing Isn’t Pandora’s Box
Social Media Defined
1. Digital sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook that encourage content sharing, collaboration, engagement and crowd sourcing. (echogravity inbound marketing dictionary)
2. “Social Media is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism, one-to-many, to a many-to-many model, rooted in conversations between authors, people, and peers.” (Brian Solis’ blog)
C-level execs, VPs, and Directors are continually faced with a dilemma in the midst of a hectic day: whether or not to spend time on social media sites.
It’s important for decision makers within organizations to brand themselves and for the organizations they represent to participate in social conversations.
“By building your thought leadership skills, you not only help yourself become known as an expert, but you also help your company become more recognized,” said Lindsay Olson, a writer for U.S. News World and Report.
Due to this challenge for professionals in the digital age, we are pleased to initiate a content series called “Social Media: Defined” that addresses central questions about social media marketing.
Through this series, we’d like to help your company find their unique voice across three of the most popular social platforms:
Where to Begin on Twitter
According to Twitter, there are approximately 140 million active users. Not only that, but there are also many opportunities to generate leads while engaging with your target audience through Twitter chats, daily conversations and content sharing.
There are a number of social tools available such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck (to name a few) that help marketing professionals manage multiple accounts and measure engagement with target audiences. Twitter can be an excellent referral source for any organization. For example, if you have a blog about IT staffing, then actively share the content on Twitter. Receiving click-thrus on tweets will drive more followers to your company website and that’s only scratching the surface.
Brand Communication, Lead Gen and Recruiting on LinkedIn
“As of March 31, 2012, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with 161 million members” according to the social network’s press center. And more than two million organizations maintain company pages on the website. LinkedIn is extremely valuable for recruiting talent, lead generation and for reinforcing your company’s message. Whether you utilize the social site for status updates or creating an industry specific group, the possibilities are truly endless.
Succeed on Facebook with A Community Manager
Many people argue about the value of Facebook for B2B versus B2C companies. Let’s face it, Facebook has become a staple in our everyday life and there’s no turning back. But how can we integrate it into a marketing strategy? Developing a social media strategy for Facebook takes commitment and what we’d like to call a community manager, an employee tasked with managing various social media accounts, acting as the voice of brands and agencies alike. Community managers are usually the first point of contact between a company and their target audience. They wear a number of hats including that of a content publisher, a social media manager, a brand journalist, a corporate communicator etc…
Please stay tuned for our next post in the series about how to make the most of hashtags to communicate effectively on Twitter.
If you are interested in learning how to best utilize a social media strategy and don’t know where to begin, then contact us to determine what’s right for you.