Mitash SEO, e-Commerce, Shopping Cart, Web Design & Development Blog

In today’s world, it’s no coincidence that you and I could just be related, through some sort of connection that links us through varied networks on several blogs and social networking sites. Even as the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Technorati, YouTube, Orkut, etc. grows, outnumbering believe-it-or-not, even porn sites; social media and networking sites are set to herald the dawn of a dynamic networking community that takes communication to another platform altogether.

1. Make the Online Word-of-Mouth Work for You
   This new communication model offers a dialogue between several users, individuals and businesses that socialise, communicate, participate in discussions, rate and review products and services, as well as provide advice on issues of common concern. The popularity of this medium is word-of-mouth, the most trusted referral system in business, only in this case it takes place across communities in the virtual world. The online word-of-mouth has surpassed advertising and marketing as trusted sources of information and placed control in the hands of the consumer. Truly, to the point of sounding hackneyed, consumer remains the king, a fact that cannot be ignored in the online world. So what is your response as a marketer to capitalise on the opportunities that the social media platform offers? Unlike other skills, social media is easy to comprehend with a little bit of effort especially since it has a remarkably low entry barrier. But before you take the plunge, there are some basis factors that are essential for a successful social media marketing campaign.
2. Identify your Business Goals and Metrics
   As is the case with any business endeavour, you must have a well-defined goal in mind. However, in reality many business bloggers and websites owners are fixated on attracting traffic to their sites without any afterthought of what to do with the traffic. Figure out whether your aim is to create brand awareness, increase sales, do market research or function as an online troubleshooting platform. Whatever be your goal, you need to measure it against the value gained through a social media platform. RSS subscriptions and page views are measurable, as is your influence on market conversations through tracking of inbound links to your social media site.
   
3. Target Relevant Influencer Networks
   You need to gain a proper understanding of who your target audience is, as you don’t want to waste your own or anyone else’s time. Most social media sites comprise of users with niche interests. Proper researching of communities that are relevant to your business interests will enable you to customise desirable content to advance your goals. You need to identify conversations that are relevant to your market community and the drivers of those conversations. While influencers need not necessarily be your customers, they can significantly impact your revenue stream, since these influencers could be dissatisfied customers, brand ambassadors of competitor products or someone with market perspectives that challenge yours. It is significant to note that looking beyond your existing customer base to gain a whole new perspective of who influences your market is an integral advantage of a social media program.
4. Launch Relevant Content
   The success of a social media activity is highly dependent on the value of its content. Again you need to get a sense of the feel, style and tone of conversations and influencers of the social media sites you are targeting. Members of online communities are generally distributed across numerous social media channels. However, while these communities remain the same, the issues raised and the way they are tackled can be very different from one blog to another. Hence, you must have an idea that is as relevant as possible to attract highly-targeted visitors through content that gels naturally.
5. Catalyse Participation
   You’re on the forum or blog to promote a specific business interest; hence you need to influence your audience and get them involved. From participating in conversations and posting articles on common interest topics that engage or challenge the community, you should comment on blogs of market influencers and include them on your blog-roll. Sharing your knowledge, discoveries and anything relevant to the community will go a long way in making your social media initiative a success.
6. Reliable Hosting
   If you abide by the tips mentioned above, you’re sure headed for social media marketing success. You can look forward to hits once your page makes it to the front pages of StumbleUpon, Digg and others. However, what if your website is unable to handle this much-desired traffic and goes down? The value behind your social media marketing efforts goes to naught. You must have a reliable hosting plan in place, especially if you are keen to market your website using social media. It is a critical element in factoring your business success through strategic social marketing.

As you engage customers using social media as a platform to elevate and disseminate information about your business, you’ll increasingly observe how your customer’s stories compete with yours, even as influential members within your community hold the power to advance or reject your unique positioning.

Do write in, I look forward to hearing from you on how you’ve handled your social media marketing initiatives.

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