The Social Media Marketing Smorgasborg

 

How to Navigate It

By Karen Cioffi

I read a great article by Jeff Bullas and it made me realize that those just entering the online marketing arena, specifically the social media marketing arena, can feel like they’ve been hit by a bulldozer.

There are lots and lots of social networks available for your use whether you’re a marketer, author, or writer. The most popular ones include:

•    Facebook
•    LinkedIn
•   Twitter
•    Pinterest
•    Instagram
•   YouTube
•   Snapchat


This is not a complete list and keep in mind that you don’t’ have to use them all. In fact, that would be a mistake.

So, how do you navigate the social network smorgasbord?

1. The first step, and most important, is to decide which networks you should work.

You’ll need to know who your target market is for this one. Research the various networks and determine which sites your audience frequents.

I’ve written about this before, pick around five or six networks to broaden your visibility reach, but choose one or two of those to actually work.

Working a network means to focus on that network. Post to it every day (you should post multiple times a day) and engage with other users.

2. Determine what type of content to use.

In particular, determine what type of information your audience needs to help them move forward in their endeavors.

This step encompasses being helpful to your audience.  Become the person who creates and shares useable content and engaging content.

This will help create trust and conversion (getting the person to take a desired action, say signing up for your mailing list).

3. Put it into action.

Start sharing your content to your chosen networks. And, become active on the one or two networks you will be working.

To be active or work a network, you will:

- Share your own content
- Share the content of others
- Engage with others (reply to messages or shares from others; share the content of other users; start a discussion; post relevant video; and so on)
- Monitor your efforts

4. To ease the social media marketing time element, look into automation.

Automation allows you to preschedule posts and it allows you to have your new blog posts shared automatically, among other features.

The service / tool I use is Buffer.com.

An article over at RazorSocial.com, lists the top tools and their features. It’s worth the read: Social Media Automation.

Choose one that will work for you and that fits your budget – some tools are free.

These four tips should help you ease into social media marketing. 

To read Jeff Bullas’ article on this topic, go to:
5 Key Steps to Mastering the SMM Landscape

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and author/writer online platform instructor. 

You can check out Karen’s e-classes through WOW! Women on Writing:  https://thewritingworld.com/your-author-platform/

MORE ON WRITING AND BOOK MARKETING

How Often Should You Be Blogging

By-Pass Marketing and Book Selling

Book Marketing - Engagement and Connection

Content Marketing - Is Blogging Worth the Time and Effort?

By Karen Cioffi

The writer and marketer must do lots and lots of things to keep their head above the marketing waters. And, those marketing waters are constantly moving. How do you keep up? And, what are the most effective marketing strategies to use?

Since the game is always changing, it’s important to keep up with marketing trends. One useful tool for this is Technorati’s 2013 Digital Influence Report.

According to their new report, which is based on “over 6,000 influencers, 1,200 consumers, and 150 top brand marketers,” blogs are now heavy hitters with consumers. Blogs are regarded as trustworthy, they are popular, and they wield influence over consumer buying decision making.

So, to answer the title question: Yes it is.

To further validate the importance of blogs, the report shows that blogs have more motivational buying power than Facebook (FB). That’s pretty amazing since FB is the top social network brands use to create visibility and develop relationships with consumers. In other words, brands use FB more than other social networks and they put more budget dollars into it than other social networks.

Reviewing the Technorati Report, Social Media Examiner explained that the reason blogs are so influential is because “bloggers tend to be very honest and sincere in their reviews of products and services. They talk about both negative and positive aspects of a brand, and in doing so become a trusted source of information. Trust drives action, and thus consumers look to bloggers before they buy.”

The study also showed that FB cornered 91 percent of brand presence, while Twitter cornered 85 percent.

Another important finding of this study is that over 50 percent of consumers feel that smaller communities offer more influence. Even new sites were trusted over social networks.

Summary of Findings

From this study it would seem that people like connecting with other people, not crowds. They like the personal relationship, the kind of one-on-one relationship that social networks don’t necessarily offer.

While the study focused on brand marketers, the results are applicable to your author or freelance writing site. Knowing that people in general trust blogs and look to them for information along with help and guidance to make purchasing decisions is powerful.

It’s understandable that this information may not be interesting to most. You may not care about knowing which social network is more popular with the heavy hitters or the percentage of marketing budget dollars brands spend on social networking. But, having proof that you’re not blogging in vein should put a smile on your face.

Take advantage of this knowledge. Blogs matter. They’re important and can be influential. Keep blogging!

Article Source: http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2013/08/online-marketing-is-blogging-worth-time.html

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I hope you found this information interesting and helpful. Too advanced, not enough, just right? I’d really love to know, so please leave a comment – good or bad.

P.S. If you liked this article, PLEASE SHARE IT!



PPSS To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi, the Article Writing Doctor
Prescription for Your Content Marketing Needs
Content Writing Training for Small Businesses, Solopreneurs, and the Freelance Writer

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