Are You Socially Awkward?
By Alexis Siemon
You've no doubt heard about how social media is taking over the world -
or at least the
Internet marketing world. And depending on your perspective, this
takeover may seem
hostile, especially if you're new to online marketing and have just
started to build your
own Internet business.
The sheer volume of different social media types and websites can be
overwhelming to
new marketers. Between Digg, Reddit, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube,
Twitter, Flickr,
and countless others, even seasoned Internet marketing professionals
can have trouble
keeping up.
It's important, however, not to let fear and inexperience keep you from
a marketing
channel that could do wonders for your business. You may be "socially
awkward"
now, but you don't have to stay that way. I'm going to give you a few
techniques that
will help you get started marketing your site through social media,
starting with the first
and most important one: Don't try everything at once
The biggest mistake new social media marketers make is trying to play
catch-up by
creating accounts on every social media site they've ever heard or read
about. This is
a surefire way to rapid burnout.
The amount of time it would take to maintain all those accounts would
suck any and
all time away from running your business. Plus, by trying to juggle
profiles and build
networks on too many sites at once, you'd do an ineffective job of
marketing.
Start slowly. Maybe even start by surveying your current customers to
see which
social media site most of them use. Once you dip your toe in and get a
feel for how
a particular site functions, how its users behave and the kind of
content/conversations
they respond to, you'll have a better idea of how that site fits with
your message. And
once you know that, you'll know if that is a site to keep and nurture
or one to scrap.
You can ramp up from there.
If you run a political blog or website, for instance, you may find that
Reddit members
respond to your content better than Digg members.
Or, if you're a photographer, you may think it's a no-brainer to open a
Flickr account,
only to find that you can get more inquiries from users of Google's
Picasa.
Then there's Twitter. What can I say about Twitter? Okay, I'm not going
to lie... I hate
Twitter. The minutia of Twitter drives me crazy. But that might be
because I haven't
figured out a good use for it. Dell certainly did. They managed to turn
Twitter into a
million-dollar sales channel for their computers by using it to alert
users of new sales
and discounts.
But that's the beauty of social media. There is no right or wrong way
to use it. It's like
every other marketing channel. You have to test to find out what works
best for your
business. Have a unique purpose Another mistake marketers make is using
different
social media sites to simply regurgitate the same tired message over
and over -
sometimes with the same exact copy!
How could this be useful to your customers? Why would they want to
connect with
you through Twitter or Facebook, only to get the same thing they can
see on your site
or in your newsletter? That's like telling someone to put on the TV,
radio, portable
DVD player, and iPod at the same time to watch the same movie.
What your customers want is the equivalent of the special features
section of the DVD.
They've seen the movie. That's your main content, right? Your main
message on your
site, in your newsletter, or your blog. Now - to really get to know you
and build a
relationship with your business and your content - they want the
interviews, the
outtakes, the deleted scenes, the director's cut, the commentary. You
get the idea.
Here at ETR, for example, we strive to provide additional unique
content for you
through our YouTube channel. We include things like additional business
and
copywriting tips, clips from conferences, and even the opinions of your
fellow ETR
readers.
Because we've received so much positive feedback on this additional
content, we're
expanding to bring you our soon-to-be-launched ETR TV channel.
The point is to use social media to deliver a different message, a
unique spin - to show
your personality. Make sure the message is remarkable in a way that's a
bit different
from your regular content, and you will keep your customers interested.
Plus, you will
entice new prospects to start a relationship with you.
Be genuine
I've mentioned this before when talking about using social media for
link building. It's
especially important when you're trying to build relationships with
customers and
prospects. No matter which site or sites you choose to use, make sure
you really are
connecting with them and not just hammering them with ad copy.
You are networking, after all. You wouldn't go to a business networking
cocktail
reception wearing a sandwich board and handing out flyers. Don't do it
online either.
Your customers have needs, their friends have needs, their friends'
friends have needs.
Fulfill those needs - even in the smallest of ways - and you'll have an
army of advocates
faster than you can say "social butterfly."
When it comes to social media marketing, the rules are pliable. So long
as you are
connecting with your audience in a meaningful way, you can experiment
and have
fun.
I'll leave you with an example of some really daring social media
marketing by Skittles
that has the Internet marketing community tweeting in their seats.
Go to Skittles.com and take a look at their new corporate website.
Thanks to some
clever thinking and a few programming tweaks, they've turned
their site into a social
media extravaganza.
Social media is just one way to market your business. For a dozen
proven methods
of connecting with your prospective customers,
pick up a copy of Michael Masterson
and MaryEllen Tribby's Amazon.com bestseller, Changing the
Channel: 12 Easy
Ways to Make Millions for Your Business.]
