Tips to Become Better Integrated in Your Niche Community

The new wave in marketing is clearly social media. However, social media marketing involves more than just creating accounts on every social network. Businesses that are using social media to its full potential are seeing more click-throughs and more conversions. These companies are using social media integration strategies to engage customers, expand their reach and enhance the online reputation of their brand.
Social networks provide platforms where communities can form around specific topics, industries and interests, and your business can become an influence in the conversations revolving around your own brand.

Using Google+ for Your Business

Google+ is fast becoming a necessary part of any social media marketing plan. With personalized search results, Google+ is one of the best ways to reach your niche community. Take advantage of the following G+ capabilities.
1 Become a member of any Google+ Communities which relate to your industry. You can’t circle an individual until they circle you, so Communities allow you to extend your reach and create business contacts when appropriate. You can also influence conversations amongst consumers about your brand.
2 Google+ Hangouts are an easy way to create content marketing. You can hold panel discussions with experts from your field or Q&A sessions with actual customers about new products and services. Record this video chat session and upload it to YouTube from the same G+ network. One Canadian photographer, Billy Wilson, has had success creating a following on Google+ using Hangouts On Air. He brings together artists, musicians and personalities every week to discuss world issues in a Hangout called, “That Show With Billy Wilson.”
3 Being that Google is already a search engine giant, establishing Google Authorship is the way to place your business at or near the top of search results. This is established simply by linking your G+ profile to your company website or blog and vice versa. Google ranks Google Authorship posts at the top of the results. The link to your post, which will include your profile picture, will stay ahead of any knock-off posts which might have followed your original content.
4 Google+ Events is a great way to promote parties, promotions or sales, and webinars for your business. The invitations sync automatically with Google Calendars, and attendees can share photos of the event directly to its photo album using a mobile app.

Develop a Community on Facebook

Approaching one billion users, Facebook is obviously a marketing force that can’t be ignored. Zappos, an online shoe sales company, has created a successful Facebook marketing campaign. Their slogan, “Let’s be in a Like-Like Relationship” is a clever invitation to become a fan of their Facebook page. Here are three other ideas which can help you develop a Facebook following.
1 Offer certain “fan-only” content.
2 Start a photo contest such as Fan-of-the-Week where fans can share photos of ways they are using your products.
3 Giveaways encourage fans to invite their friends to like your page.

Integrate Your Platforms

An essential part of any marketing plan is knowing the message you want to share. The delivery of this message should vary with each platform but the message itself must be clearly maintained. Consumers lose interest quickly in businesses that copy and paste content into multiple platforms. However, you can link your accounts and platforms to help spread the word about your brand. For example, Vivint, a home security and automation company, is an active user on Google+, using it as a platform to connect people to their blog and websites. The final three tips for integration are taken from Vivint’s example.
1 Post regularly to a company blog and share the links on social platforms.
2 Use a variety of content for posts including video, articles and photos.
3 Use widgets on your blog and websites to encourage users to share content.
With these tips, you can use Google+ and social media platforms to develop a community. When customers feel a part of your community, they develop trust, which results in more loyalty and referrals for your business.

http://www.onesocialmedia.com/tips-to-become-better-integrated-in-your-niche-community/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tips-to-become-better-integrated-in-your-niche-community

Is your social campaign being ignored? Here are 6 ways to draw attention to it

Most of the social media gurus and experts will tell you that social media is all about setting up monitoring processes for your brand, and to be responsive to the questions and needs of your target market. It’s very rare that they will tell you what to do when you have no audience at all when you start with your campaign.
What do you do if you have no audience and no one is talking about your business or brand at all on the social web? What strategies can you implement to get the ball rolling with your campaign? Do you feel lost? Fear not because there are a couple of things you can do to start sparking the conversation on social media.
1. Get involved
One of the most common reasons anyone struggles with conversation on social media is simply that they are not present. It’s a fact that social media rewards consistent and regular content. If you are not present and consistent on the social web, you are not adding any value to anyone and no one will talk to you. The first step to generate some conversation and buzz around what you do is to be on the social web on a regular basis and to provide value to the people who might be interested in what you do.
2. Start the conversation
Social media is really not just about monitoring the conversation busy happening online. How are you going to become part of the talk? There are thousands of conversations happening every minute on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the blogosphere that you can become part of. Make a point to regularly add insightful comments and thoughts to these conversations. Jump in and get involved. The more you contribute, the more conversations can be created.
3. Ask questions
A great way to start a conversation online is to start your conversations by sharing interesting topics and asking questions that will encourage discussion. Once your network consists of a couple of followers, it won’t be difficult to get some responses if the questions you ask are on-topic. In many cases, no one is talking because they don’t have anything to talk about. Change your approach and use a conversation starter to get the ball rolling.
4. Content is king, but so is conversation
Another great way to get the conversation going is to create and curate valuable and insightful content that your audience would like to share with their own networks. If these people are your clients, you will most likely have a pretty good idea on what interests them. Create a free digital download such as a whitepaper and ask them to share it with other people who might find it useful. Creating magnetic content is of the best methods to draw people into your campaign and to start a buzz.
5. Create a list of your network
Create a list of your network consisting of people who you would like to talk to on a regular basis. A very easy way to do this is to create a list on Twitter and regularly follow the stream of that list to see what is happening. You can also create a simple spreadsheet with the names and social media profiles of the people you want to engage with on a regular basis. Either way, be sure to make it a point to build relationships with key individuals and influencers online.
6. Reward your network
No matter who you are or what business you are in, I bet you there will be someone who will be willing to talk about you online. When this happens, reward them. A simple thank you goes a long way and can be done directly by acknowledging them on Twitter or Facebook. We are in this social boat together and people value recognition.
By now you most likely know that creating your network and generating conversations plays a key role with social media, but getting the ball rolling can take up quite a lot of effort in the beginning. Be sure to stay consistent with the conversations you are part of on the social web. If you are regularly talking and it has become a part of your daily routine, the rest of the pieces will all fall into place.

http://memeburn.com/2013/04/is-your-social-campaign-being-ignored-here-a-6-ways-to-draw-attention-to-it/

10 SEO Reasons to Add Facebook to Your Content Strategy

Over a year ago now, both Google and Bing announced that they factor social signals from social media into their organic search algorithms. As the lines between social media and search engine optimization continue to thin, social media will gain importance for SEO. As Google described it, social media is about relationships and relationships prove relevance. Relevance is at the core of organic search.
It’s well known that Facebook has 845 million active users and 50% log in daily. These numbers are astounding! I guarantee you that your customers and prospects are included in those numbers. They are on Facebook and they’re likely trying to engage with your brand.
If you don’t yet have a Facebook Page for your organization, you really ought to consider optimizing your content marketing strategy to include one.
Here are 10 SEO reasons why your organization needs a Facebook presence:

1. Google and Bing crawl and index Facebook Pages because they are publicly available. As a result, Facebook Pages do indeed come up in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
2. Google announced in early November 2011 that they now crawl and index Facebook Comments.
3. People are starting their branded searches at the Facebook search box. Test to see if your brand comes up when you search for it in Facebook.
4. SEO is now about web presence optimization (WPO) and Facebook is a must for any web presence.
5. Your target audience (unless you think they’re not included in the 845 million Facebook users) is hanging out there.
6. The “Like” button is the new “backlink.”
7. The “Liker” (the Facebook User who did the “Liking”) is the new “lead” or “contact.”
8. Your Facebook presence adds quality backlinks to your website.
9. Facebook is accessible on mobile devices, giving your prospects and clients easy access to your content and brand.
10. Your competitors most likely have a Facebook presence.

SEO as a digital marketing tactic continues to evolve because our friends, at places such as Google, keep adjusting their organic search algorithms. In fact, it is estimated that in the past 12 months Google made 500 adjustments to their algorithm. As the lines between SEO and social media continue to fade, we can count on one thing – that Google will continue to tweak their algorithm to include more emphasis on social signals coming from not just Facebook, but also Twitter and Google +1.
Learn how to optimize your Facebook Page for organic search and improve your web presence. DOWNLOAD: SEO your Business Facebook Page for Google – A How-To Guide
This is a guest post by Krista LaRiviere, CoFounder & CEO of gShift Labs, a web presence optimization company. She blogs and speaks about SEO and the importance of social media, public relations, and press releases to SEO. Her team has helped hundreds of organizations get control of their entire web presence in order to rank higher organically in the search engines. She believes SEO campaigns should be just as easy to execute, track, manage, and measure as email marketing and paid search. Connect with Krista: @KristaLariviere, +KristaLariviere, @gShiftLabs, +gShiftLabs, and on Facebook.

http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/04/03/facebook-seo-content-strategy

10 Tips for Creating Content on Facebook That Gets the Thumbs Up

With the recent release of our brand new infographic documenting Facebook's failures, I thought I'd write about how you can make sure that you yourself don't have any Facebook face-plants. Here are 10 tips for creating awesome Facebook content that will keep visitors interested and engaged.

1. Post Content that Interests Your Customers

The key to developing a winning fan page that builds fans and pushes your business forward is to post content that genuinely interests your customers or clients. Don't focus solely on you or your business. By providing valuable information to the reader you will build a stronger relationship with current and prospective customers.

Red Bull knows that their energy drink customers are likely to be interested in extreme activities, so they post videos they know customers will enjoy, even if it doesn’t relate to Red Bull directly.

2. Post a Variety of Content

Let’s imagine you own a pet grooming business. On your fan page, you’ll want to share a variety of content like:

• Blog Posts – what’s new and happening at your business? Did Spot the puppy turn 1 this week?
• Photos – in addition to photos of your store, take snap shots of workers and customers. Upload pics from events you’ve attended or hosted, like your canine Best in Show event.
• Press Releases – let customers know about the updates and improvements you’ve made
• Videos – do I need to even tell you how many adorable kitten videos are on the web?

3. End Every Post With a Question

I hate to sound like a scrooge, but the truth is that people are pretty self-absorbed. Fan page visitors are much more likely to pay attention and respond to your posts if you address them personally and encourage them to get involved.
Pairing your posts with questions is a great way to accomplish this. You’ll get more engagement and better response if you post a link with a question or call to action, rather than just posting a link solo. Invite conversation whenever possible, with each post you do.

Ben & Jerry know how to get their customers chatting.
To go along with our pet grooming example, you might post a link to an article with “Five Tips for Cutting Your Dog’s Nails at Home” (trust me, this is not easy). Include a question with the link, such as “Do you have any special tricks for keeping your dog relaxed?”

4. Don’t Post Too Frequently

According to a research study by the University of Colorado Denver Business School, the No.1 reason people dump Facebook friends is that they get annoyed being continuously bombarded with useless posts (if you are looking to lower your friend count, just download a couple of Zynga games and you’ll be golden).
Plastering a fan’s news feed won’t make them like you any more. Make each post count!

5. Allow Fans to Write on Your Wall

This might go without saying, but you really need to enable visitors to write on your wall. Disabling this feature means you might as well not have a fan page at all, since the whole point of being on Facebook is to get into dialogue with customers.

6. Don’t Share Twitter Posts on Your Facebook Page

You’re talking to different audiences with different needs and expectations. It’s fine to have an announcement you want to share across Facebook and Twitter, but re-write it accordingly. And definitely remove the #&@s or people might think you’re saying some not-so-nice things.

7. Use Contests, But Use Them in Moderation

Of course we can’t forget about contests, the bread and butter of fan pages. Contests are great, but they should be a fun and exciting event, not the norm.
Pumpkin coffee and apple cider are awesome reminders of fall because you can’t get them just any day of the year. Similarly, you shouldn’t be hosting contests so often that they lose their edge.

8. Get Creative With the Contests

Try an essay, photo, or video contest to get a higher level of engagement with fans. It’s great to incorporate seasonal events, like a “Best Pumpkin Carving” or “Cutest Pet Costume” contest for Halloween. The Wildfire web application is a great tool for making interactive content like contests, quizzes, and surveys.

Boo the adorable dog would win any contest. Because he is just too adorable.
If you run a photo contest, tag your customers so that the post appears on their wall too. That way you’re furthering your sphere of influence by reaching out to friends of your fans.

9. Try Selecting a Monthly Topic

One idea in attempts to keep fans engaged is to select a different topic for each month. Talk about and post links to sites that cover that topic.
Having a different topic you address each month demonstrates that you have a continuous online presence, making you appear much more interesting (even if deep down you are incredibly dull). Which brings us to our final tip…

10. Be Interesting!

After I got a PS3, I decided to follow the @AskPlaystation feed, which provides fascinating insight into topics such as how to clean your PS3 and ways to keep it ventilated. OK, to be fair, it is a customer support feed. But boy-howdy is it boring.

Fascinating stuff.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to look at a boring Facebook page. There are some environments where an air of professionalism is necessary, but that attitude will only come off as dull on Facebook.
Hopefully these tips got you thinking about ways to generate interesting and engaging content with your Facebook fans! Spread the love.
What are your tips and tricks for creating great content on Facebook?

http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2011/10/19/10-facebook-tips-for-content

Guide to Using Social Media for Marketing

Social media marketing is a powerful tool for small business looking to further their reach and interact with customers. If implemented correctly, marketing with social media can bring remarkable success to your business.

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing, or SMM, is a form of internet marketing that implements various social media networks in order to achieve marketing communication and branding goals. Social media marketing primarily covers activities involving social sharing of content, videos, and images for marketing purposes.
At WordStream, we’ve created this guide to provide you with the social media marketing training you need to better your business. We want to give small businesses on short budgets an alternative to hiring a social media marketing agency or paying for social media marketing services.
With our Social Media Marketing 101 Guide below, you can begin developing your own social media marketing expert plan.

Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses: Learn Social Media Marketing 101

This education guide gives a basic overview on how to use social media for marketing, serving as a social media marketing for dummies manual. Read to learn about how to reap the benefits of using social media in marketing.

Social Media and Marketing: Start With a Plan

Before you begin creating social media marketing campaigns, consider your business’ goals. Starting a social media marketing campaign without a plan in mind is like wandering through a forest without a map—you’ll only end up lost.
Create a social media marketing plan and brainstorm about your goals: what are you hoping to achieve through social media marketing? Who is your target audience? Where would your target audience hang out and how would they use social media? What message do you want to send to your audience with social media marketing?

Social Media for Marketing: Developing Your Goals

Social media marketing can help with a number of goals, such as:

• Website traffic
• Conversions
• Brand awareness
• Creating a brand identity and positive brand association
• Communication and interaction with key audiences

Best Social Media Marketing Tips: Learn Marketing with Social Media

Here are some social media marketing tips to keep you on the right track across all your social media campaigns.

• Planning – As discussed previously, building a social media marketing plan is essential. Consider keyword research and brainstorm content ideas that will interest your target audience.
• Content is King — Consistent with other areas of online marketing, content reigns king when it comes to social media marketing. Make sure you are offering valuable information that your ideal customers will find interesting. Create a variety of content by implementing images, videos, and infographics in addition to classic text-based content.
• Consistent Brand Image — Using social media for marketing enables your business to project your brand image across a variety of different social media platforms. While each platform has its own unique environment and voice, your business’ core identity should stay consistent.
• Blog — Blogging is a great social media marketing tool that lets you share a wide array of information and content with readers. Your company blog can also serve as your social media marketing blog, in which you blog about your recent social media efforts, contests, and events.
• Links — While using social media for marketing relies primarily on your business sharing its own unique, original content to gain followers, fans, and devotees, it’s also great to link to outside articles as well. If other sources provide great, valuable information you think your target audience will enjoy, don’t be shy about linking to them. Linking to outside sources improves trust and reliability, and you may even get some links in return.
• Track Competitors — It’s always important to keep an eye on competitors—they can provide valuable data for keyword research, where to get industry-related links, and other social media marketing insight. If your competitors are using a certain social media marketing technique that seems to be working for them, do the same thing, but do it better!
• Measure Success with Analytics —You can’t determine the success of your social media marketing strategies without tracking data. Google Analytics can be used as a great social media marketing tool that will help you measure your triumphant social media marketing techniques, as well as determine which strategies are better off abandoned. Attach tracking tags to your social media marketing campaigns so that you can properly monitor them.

How to Use Social Media for Marketing: Know Your Platform

We’ve put together a brief overview on how to use social media for marketing according to each platform’s unique environment. Various social media marketing sites will require different techniques, so develop a unique strategy tailored for each platform.
Facebook
Facebook’s casual, friendly environment requires an active social media marketing strategy that begins with creating a Facebook Business Fan Page. You will want to pay careful attention to layout, as the visual component is a key aspect of the Facebook experience. Social media marketing for business pages revolves around furthering your conversation with audiences by posting industry-related articles, images, videos, etc.
Facebook is a place people go to relax and chat with friends, so keep your tone light and friendly.
Google+
Google+ is the new Facebook competitor, and it promotes the same fun, casual atmosphere. On Google+ you can upload and share photos, videos, links, and view all your +1s. Also take advantage of Google+ circles, which allow you to segment your followers into smaller groups, enabling you to share information with some followers while barring others. For example, you might try creating a “super-fan” circle, and share special discounts and exclusive offers only with that group.
You can also try hosting video conferences with Hangouts and experiment using the Hangout feature in some fun, creative ways. Some social media marketing ideas: if you're a salon, host a how-to session on how to braid your hair. If you own a local bookstore, try offering author video chats.
Pinterest
Pinterest is the latest in social media marketing trends. Pinterest’s image-centered platform is ideal for retail, but anyone can benefit from using Pinterest for social media purposes.
Pinterest allows small businesses to showcase their own product offerings while also developing their own brand’s personality with some unique pinboards.
Twitter
Twitter is the social media marketing tool that lets you broadcast your updates across the web. Follow tweeters in your industry or related fields, and you should gain a steady stream of followers in return.
Mix up your official-related tweets about specials, discounts, and news updates with some fun and quirky tweets interspersed. Be sure to retweet when a customer has something nice to say about you, and don’t forget answer people’s questions when possible. Using Twitter as a social media marketing tool revolves around dialog and communication, so be sure to interact as much as possible
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the more professional social media marketing sites. LinkedIn Groups is a great venue for entering into a professional dialog with people in similar industries and provides a place to share content with like-minded individuals.
Encourage customers or clients to give your business a recommendation on your LinkedIn profile. Recommendations makes your business appear more credible and reliable for new customers. Also browse the Questions section of LinkedIn; providing answers helps you get established and earns trust.
YouTube
YouTube is the number one place for creating video content, with can be an incredibly powerful social media marketing tool. Many businesses try to create video content with the aim of having their video “go viral,” but in reality those chances are pretty slim. Instead, focus on creating useful, instructive “how-to” videos.
Location-Based Social Media Tools
Social media platforms like Yelp, FourSquare, and Level Up are great for brick and mortar businesses looking to implement marketing social media. Register on these sites to claim your location spot, and then consider extra incentives such as check-in rewards or special discounts.
Reddit
Reddit, or similar social media platforms such as Stumble Upon or Digg, are ideal for sharing compelling content. With over 2 billion page views a month, Reddit has incredible social media marketing potential, but marketers should be warned that only truly unique, interesting content will be welcomed. Posting on Reddit is playing with fire—submit spammy or overtly sales-focused content and your business could get berated by this extremely tech-savvy community.
If you have content you believe the Reddit community (majority is young, geeky, liberal, and internet-obsessed) would enjoy, you could reap tremendous benefits and earn valuable traffic.
Using social media in marketing does more than improve site traffic and help businesses reach more customers; it provides a valuable venue for better understanding and learning from your target audiences. Hopefully this guide has helped you better understand how using social media for marketing can improve your business.
Looking for better results? Pay-per-click marketing is a growing form of online advertising that continues to be very successfully for small and medium sized businesses. Learn about PPC and try WordStream's PPC Optimization software for free today!

http://www.wordstream.com/social-media-marketing

4 Important Social Media Marketing Tips For 2013

With the current social media explosion, you’re probably aware of how online networks and social sites have become a part of modern living. Most of us opened accounts for our personal use, but we soon discovered how these sites could be utilized for other things. They are now much more than ways to keep in touch with our friends – they have in fact become powerful tools for marketing our products and services online. With networks like Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook, it’s now easy to reach a broader audience we normally wouldn’t come in contact with.

We have to remember that social media is still continually evolving. Sites have not only increased in number, but they’ve also developed more possibilities for sharing and spreading content. This growth has caused trends and patterns in user behavior, ultimately affecting the way marketing is done. It has thus become important to constantly update our marketing strategies.

There is no single fixed formula for a rapidly changing phenomenon, but there are some things you can do to keep up with current trends. Below are the top 4 social media marketing tips for 2013.

1. Be visual

Marketing has become heavily visual these days. Images easily attract attention, and they can be easily shared at the click of a mouse. It would benefit you to use stunning graphics, reduce your text to a few catchy words and include them in your graphic. Be sure to insert your website and/or e-mail address somewhere in there too.

Graphic files are the most shared content on Facebook, and it’s the best way to go viral these days. Pinterest is currently the fastest growing social media site, so put that account to good use.

2. Actively pursue your audience

These days, marketing isn’t just about making yourself or your product known; it’s now a whole new ballgame. Traditional advertising is no longer an effective way to attract customers. In fact, today’s internet-savvy audience is so used to being bombarded with all sorts of information that they rarely respond to advertising.

The bottom line is to actively pursue your customers by interacting with them. Make it a point to answer their inquiries and provide sufficient information. Involve them by asking questions and holding surveys; be sure to acknowledge their replies. Let them feel like they are part of content creation by asking them what they would like to see more of; you can even ask a few active subscribers to contribute posts. Every few months, hold an interesting event such as a giveaway or a get-together.

Use social media for building relationships more than for selling. Don’t just try to push your product, but get a feel for your customers’ needs. Help them come up with ideas that will benefit them, not just your business. Be accommodating and helpful; provide links to resources if you feel this can improve your service.

Review your statistics regularly so you can know what works for your audience, and what doesn’t. Observe patterns such as times when your subscribers are most active, or the kind of content people respond to the most.

3. Target the most influential people

Make it a point to target people who have the most potential to spread a good word about your product. This means influential bloggers, people with blogs related to your product, or simply users with the most followers. Each time they re-share your content, it’s automatically re-shared with all their followers. If you are able to maintain a good relationship with them, any positive comment or post they make about you results in instant promotion.

4. Be intentional and relevant

Make it a point to be intentional: have a goal every week, and post things that will help you achieve it. If, for example, your goal is to make your new product known to your audience, intentionally compose posts about your product that are both informative and helpful. Don’t bother with useless trivia and spammy content that might just annoy your followers and cause them to unfollow you.

Create quality content that will keep your subscribers interested and encourage them to share it with others. Don’t feel pressured to say something every minute; instead, post things that your customers will appreciate. Steer clear of random updates like, “Going to the mall,” or “Having a hearty lunch”, unless it achieves your goal.

Part of being intentional is having a good idea about your target audience. Know what kind of people (in terms of age, gender, interest, etc.) you want to reach, then make content that specifically speaks to them. It’s more profitable to have a particular audience that is interested and engaged, rather than a wide number of followers who don’t care. It’s those people in your target group who will likely avail of your product or service, even promote it, so focus on meeting their needs.

These top 4 social media marketing tips for 2013 are easy enough to do, and will certainly be helpful in the coming year. Still, it’s important to remember that the social media phenomenon is continually developing, so your online marketing strategies should likewise evolve. It’s best to constantly update yourself so you can keep up with a fast-changing world.

http://www.hostmansaving.com/4-important-social-media-marketing-tips-for-2013/

 

Small Business Marketing - 3 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Can Help

Small business owners often depend on traditional advertising methods such as magazine ads, classified ads or posters that are pasted on the streets for their small business marketing efforts. Also, despite the frequent mentioning that social media marketing is the current big thing, small business owners tend to shrug the statement off, citing that they are not targeting the global audience, which is a reason that arises from misconception about social media marketing for small businesses.

I am very sure that there are some small business owners out there that are monitoring the trends of blogging and the growth of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook but they are doubting whether social media marketing is the type of marketing that will work for their businesses. In this social media marketing for small business article, I am going to share with you 3 reasons why you, as a business owner, should start to tap opportunities offered by these online social media platforms.

 

Get Closer with Your Target Market

First, let's bust the "Internet is only for international companies" myth. The obvious truth is, more people, including those that are from your local community, are getting online. This means that it is very likely for them to look for a service provider or a product online. If you are able to get in front of their eyeballs during their search, provide the necessary assistance in the form of helpful content and build trust along the process, the likeliness of them doing business with you will be higher compared to a multinational company that often ignore small-sized customers or another local small business that fails to showcase their expertise.

Having an online presence also helps you to understand what the market is desperately looking for or things that they are hoping to get when dealing with your type of business. If you are the first to be able to satisfy their needs, they will definitely recommend your business to others and good words about your business will spread.

 

Death of Traditional Marketing

Traditional marketing such as newspaper ad or TV ad is dying. Ask anyone who has just finished reading the Wall Street Journal on whether they are going to take action based on the ads they saw. Most of them will find it hard to even recall what are the ads that really caught their attention.

As the attention span of modern day human beings are getting shorter, technologies such as ad blockers, RSS feed for news reading and TiVo for television programs provide users with the ability to skip ads. Compare this to social media marketing where you are going to interact with your prospects directly by providing valuable content rather than hard selling marketing messages, you are more than likely to get better response rates and results.

 

Building Trust and Loyalty

Value adding through relationship building and useful content creation can achieve more than just bridging the gap between you and your target market. As a small business owner, social media marketing can help you to establish trust and loyalty with community members that you are targeting. With the help of these social media tools, you are now able to track, participate and broadcast within a certain targeted community.

Trust and loyalty is crucial for a small business. Both the elements ensure repeat customers as well as the likelihood of them recommending you to others. By being helpful online irregardless of whether a person will form part of your customer base will definitely contribute towards trust and loyalty building

http://ezinearticles.com/?Small-Business-Marketing---3-Reasons-Why-Social-Media-Marketing-Can-Help&id=2051586

Facebook For Business

Facebook For Business
Most people know that Facebook was originally intended for college students in the US to be able to keep in contact with one another.
However, it is now widely used for business purposes. Each user can create an individual profile with pictures, information about their interests and details about their lives. As a result, it enables users to contact literally millions of people from all over the world, and who can easily be put into categories such as geographical location, educational establishment, political view, workplace etc.
Using Your Account Wisely
As users are only entitled to have one Facebook account, it is vital at the outset that you decide whether you will use Facebook primarily for business or for personal use (and therefore have your business or personal contacts on it.) It is possible to separate the two: you can keep your personal contacts as your friends, while setting up a fan page for your business.
Do Your Research
As with all marketing strategies it is vital that you take time to consider how you will use Facebook to promote your business.
Look at your competitors’ pages: who has the most successful Facebook page and what makes it so effective? You’ll notice that blatant promotion of their business is generally not the main focus. For example, if you put too many links back to your website this will quickly put other users off.
Facebook can be an effective way to announce important developments related to your business to a large number of people simultaneously. Invitees to your event can visibly RSVP, which can also be an effective way to reaffirm its importance.
Of course, you’re not limited to just using Facebook to enhance your business status online. Linkedin offers a professional, adult atmosphere; Twitter is arguably the ‘hot’ social networking site of the last 12 months; and of course there’s MySpace: these each have their own strengths and features and can work well for different types of businesses.
However, before you use a social networking site to promote your business it is imperative that you have a clear idea of your strategy and what it is you intend to achieve before embarking on any kind of social networking activity.
Any thoughts? Please feel free to leave a comment below.
http://www.marketingtipsuk.com/internetmarketing/facebook-for-business/#more-36