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Social Networking as an Effective Marketing Tool

Guest post by: Liam McCauley

Article Overview: For any small business owner who wants to market a business online, there is a continual goal of getting the business better known. The name of the business, what it does and what it can do for customers needs to be publicized online, and social networking can help.

Social Networking as an Effective Marketing Tool

For any small business owner who wants to market a business online, there is a continual goal of getting the business better known. The name of the business, what it does and what it can do for customers needs to be publicized online, and social networking can help.

Promoting a Brand Online

Anytime a brand is promoted on the Internet, the business owner should take the lead in telling customers about it. If the only thing online about the business or product is one website, it makes it difficult for potential customers to research the company to find out more.

To promote a business, one of the necessary steps these days is to create a few social networking pages on the major social networking sites. These give customers a place to find out more about a company, to post questions or comments about it or to simply get a feel for the person running the business.

Creating Social Networking Pages

Using these sites to market a business is free and the sites are designed to be simple to set up. The main components of a marketing page are the name of the company, or the name of the person if the person is the brand, a picture and a description. Some profile pages are more intricate than others, but all should contain these elements at a minimum.

A picture gives customers a look at a business owner, a product or the brick-and-mortar version of a business. The picture can also be an artistic rendering in order to give the page a creative flair. Without a picture, a social networking profile page may not be eye-catching enough to keep readers there to learn about the business.

Boosting Sales With Social Networking

One of the ways that social marketing can boost sales is to increase customer loyalty. If a customer reads the social networking pages of a business, that customer will find out more about what the business is selling. They will also find out about any new developments that you want customers to know about.

When posting marketing messages on a profile page or through Twitter, direct links can make it easy for customers who want to buy from you. Adding links to specific products can allow those who have discovered the page to find out more about what you sell.

Search engine or social networking site traffic gives you better visibility for the business, and that is valuable traffic. Having profile pages is another way of getting your name out there, giving potential customers more ways to discover the business and to purchase from it. With more traffic, word of mouth can spread, boosting sales and online brand recognition of the business.

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Article Tags: social networking, social networking pages, social networking profile, social networking sites
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: How can a social networking site make serious money? - Hi There, It is quite interesting, that some Social Networking do produce an income. I think testimonials are always a benefit to share. See one below: This Social Network has changed my life! Every night is a Friday night and everyday is a Saturday!! Because of it, I have been able to leave the workforce 10 years early.It has given me back my life. Many of us would like to retire early. I am sure there are many more. The point is of focusing with great determination. The ongoing challenge is to stay focussed and not be sidetracked into a newer scheme or so. Also I have read, during this financial turmoil, more people turn to Social Networking for various reasons.
Marketing 2012 - I am interested in what works for you in 2012, Social Networking, Search Engine traffic, Blogs, Articles, Forums, what? This is a quote from a 2009 Topic "Twitter, Social Networking, What is your Method? From my experience, social networking traffic (Twitter included) also converts at a far lower rate than search engine traffic. Evan Is this still true, or do you use something that gives us better returns and conversions
Re: How to Promote Your Business Online - Thanks for the list ZekeLL , I use many of these ways to promote my online business and am looking into using more of them. I also use Article Marketing, Social Networking and Blogging which I find a very good way to get traffic to my site and also gain valuable backlinks. Take care, Carol
Re: What are you doing to grow your business Ladies? - At the moment I'm concentrating on Article Marketing, Blogging and Social Networking to gain backlinks and drive traffic to two of my websites. I'm also in the middle of creating another website, totally unrelated to my other sites where I will be selling jewellery. I only started this one yesterday and am pretty excited about it. Take care, Carol
Re: Kevin's Case Study #11 - A New Forum Category? - Hi Kevin, Like GT suggested, I also think you can add Internet Marketing as a sub category in the Marketing section and also a Social marketing as subcategory. Online marketing/internet marketing/online promotion are the same, and it will be best to use the common term - Internet marketing. I can't think about someone to moderate a Social Marketing category. We all use it, we all know how to make it work and we all have our own different experience with it.


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