Social Media Marketing – Connect Your Online Business To The World!

For many social media marketing is this big scary thing that they have no idea how to access or utilize for their online business. For others, it’s a big playground they’ve yet to figure out. Still others simply don’t see the power contained there.

For all of these groups, however, the day when it could be ignored or shoved to the side while you do more “important” marketing tasks is over. You read it here first! (snicker, snicker!)

Today social media marketing is no longer the unwanted stepchild in the family of marketing; it has become the child of great promise, the Golden Child that can take simple human connections and turn them into marketing gold.

This transformation has taken a while, but is now here. What used to be a platform for keeping in touch with old schoolmates, has now morphed into a full-fledged marketing machine. There is now no end to courses and systems teaching you how to market on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social sites.

What most marketers need to understand is that this is where the people are now! They spend an average of nearly an hour a day on Facebook, their Twitter client is always open, and email is within arm’s reach 24/7. People are connected more than ever, and it’s now your job to connect to them!

So, in some very broad strokes, let’s paint a picture of just what the social media landscape looks like, and how you need to be able to inject yourself and your marketing into it!

The Essential Social Media Sites
For Your Business!

There are 4 right now. They are

Facebook – Today every business needs a presence on Facebook. With more than 600 Million users, and still growing, it’s far too big to ignore. Facebook pages are easy to set up, and can accumulate very large numbers of people who like them. You can contact those people, and Facebook is a terrific tool for building and fostering relationships. More and more ways are being found every day to access and utilize the power and reach of Facebook.

The very definition of viral, Facebook users have an average of more than 130 friends apiece, and when anything of yours gets posted on their wall, their friends get it also, and so on, and so on.

Videos spread quickly on Facebook, and now with webinars making inroads there as well, it is fast proving to be the ultimate marketing platform. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can get around to Facebook later on. Doing so will be marketplace suicide!

Twitter – Concurrently, Twitter is to Facebook and your site what a good agent is to a top actor. It’s there for you to spread the word. In fact, that was the genesis of it’s very inception, telling others in your world what you are up to. What better way to keep your followers, friends and prospects abreast of your activities than by a tweet letting them know where they can go to find out more, see something cool, read your latest and get your most recent offerings.

Twitter likewise has the capability of gathering very large numbers of people into your sphere of influence. These people are there for you, unless you prove unworthy. Don’t make that mistake!

LinkedIn - With over 100 million people connected in a business environment; somehow you thought this wasn’t necessary? The worlds largest professional network is an ideal place to not only further establish your business identity, but also to foster relationships among those who may be partners and clients in the future.

LinkedIn has so many useful facets that it’s hard to pigeonhole it as merely one thing; it is many. You can keep up with friends, keep in contact with colleagues, and expand your circle of influence. You can also find work if you are so inclined, and it’s a great place to keep up with the business world in general. Definitely make sure you are LinkedIn!

YouTube – The world’s largest video sharing network, with very often more views a day than it’s parent company, Google, YouTube has a unique space in your social sphere, and that belongs to your video channel. Making sure you utilize this is another way of not only keeping your content, products and services in front of people, but also in helping your site rank better. Your YouTube channel’s popularity can be of large benefit here!

To be sure, there are other sites, and as sure as Lindsay Lohan will take skip rehab, there will be another social network come along to challenge the status quo.

One more thing: be sure to handle your social networks with care. Don’t spam them, don’t pester them with marketing messages 24/7, and by all means don’t discount the power of word of mouth. It can sink you just as fast as it can crown you!

Learning how to get a handle on the social networking aspect of your online business needs to be a large priority right now! Develop systems, utilize useful tools and do whatever you can to tap in to the giant sucking sound that is the world passing you by!

Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, online business, social media, social media marketing, social networks, Twitter, YouTube