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Social Media Strategy

Guest post by: Sue Cooper

Article Overview: Simply becoming a member of one or more social media groups does not constitute a social media strategy. A strategy involves joining these groups with a specific purpose in mind and taking precise actions for the purpose of promoting something. You may be promoting yourself or your online business. What you are promoting is not as important as how you are promoting it.

Social Media Strategy

There are some who believe social media marketing is not for everyone and certainly not for every business. We do not necessarily think this is true. Consider the fact that just about every type of business from politicians, doctors and lawyers to artists and athletes is using social media - this is a good indication that there is a place for every business on social media websites. However, this does not mean there is a place for all businesses on every social media website and it does not mean businesses do not still have a responsibility to present themselves properly on these social media websites.

Start your social media strategy by taking a look at your business plan and determining which social media websites are right for you. There are social networking sites which enable users to interact freely with each other and meet others with similar interests. There are also wiki websites which allow community members to collaborate to create encyclopedia like entries. There are also social news websites where members take on a citizen journalist role and report the news around them. These are just a few of the social media options available to online business owners. Determine which of these work well with your business and carefully review the terms of service agreement to ensure you are able to promote your business without violating this agreement.

Now that you have selected one or more social media outlets, it is time to determine how you will interact with other members. Consider the type of image you wish to project and make sure everything from the look of your website to the tone of your interactions with other members conveys this image. Be careful not to allow yourself to become too relaxed in this type of environment because it can ruin your credibility. Also, always be careful not to respond in anger or post compromising photos or words because it can be extremely difficult to take back words or images from the internet.

Finally, remember that testing should still be an important part of your marketing strategy. You always want to track data relevant to your traffic and conversion rates. This information will help to determine your rate of success and can be used to help you implement changes which can improve your business. You do not want to spend weeks, months or even years on a social media website without improving your traffic. If you notice you are not converting well, make changes to attempt to improve sales. Likewise if you realise you are selling more than ever before, capitalise on this by incorporating successful elements of your website into other areas to try to promote even more sales.

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Article Tags: Search Engine Optimization, Seo Consultant, Social Strategy for website
Referred by: http://www.searchengineworkshops.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


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