Social media marketing

Social media marketing

Social media marketing is the best thing to have happened for those working from home to earn money or for those who have limited budgets. Addressing audiences on Facebook, Orkut, LinkedIn, Twitter, other social media sites and the blogosphere can help you cover a lot of ground – all for free in most cases, the only investment being time. Even if you have all the promotional Rupees to spend, you may want to save some of these if social media can help achieve your objectives.

Here are just some of the ways you can use this channel to your advantage in whatever you are doing to make money.

GROUPS ON LINKEDIN AND FACEBOOK

Create groups relevant to what you do on these sites and invite your contacts to become members. They in turn can invite their contacts and the tribe can keep increasing. Use this to interact with members, have discussions and to update others about the latest. Since you will have people on board with knowledge of what you do, they may add value with inputs and leads. Link these groups to your sites and blogs for members to visit and to know more about your work – and in turn possibly turn customers and clients.

PROMOTE EVENTS

If you are holding any offline or online events including sales promotions, list them on social media and invite your contacts. Not only does it give you an idea of the RSVPs but also helps the word get out to those who are not on your network.

TWITTER

A microblogging platform, Twitter allows you to post messages under 140 characters to those who are following your updates. Make sure you ‘tweet’ about whatever there is to share with your target audience. If recipients see value in it, they can ‘re-tweet’ your posts for their followers to read and you could just be on to a viral campaign here. The account is free to set up.

Likewise, Facebook and LinkedIn allow you to post your status updates which can be used to share what you are doing currently. Use it to talk about what you have to offer in the marketplace and it is sure to catch the right attention.

“I came to Facebook , like all the social media tools I use, kicking and screaming. But over time I have come to see the real value.

I find each social media tool allows me to form a deeper relationship with people. I often see people connect with me first through Twitter, then Facebook, then by joining my email list.

Twitter is a taste of who I am, Facebook gives people a whole lot more information. By email list means they are very close to becoming a customer.

The biggest mistake people make with Facebook is going for quantity without quality. What do I mean? People go for having the biggest friend list without trying to get to know anything about the people they are contacting. At the very least, people using Facebook for business should send a personal note to everyone they invite to connect, then view their profile and write something thoughtful on their wall. From there, it is about participating in a conversation. My rule of thumb when it comes to conduct on social media: If you wouldn't do it in real life or by phone, don't do it on Facebook.”

– Andrea Stenberg, Publisher and Small Business Mentor at The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, Canada

OFFER DEALS

Everyone loves a bargain. Use your social media and Twitter communities to announce special deals on what you sell, and see word get around. And expanding your client base.

PUBLIC RELATIONS 2.0

Who does not love media publicity? Being featured in newspapers, magazines and television is not only good for the ego but can perform wonders for your branding and sales. But this conventional PR is getting more and more difficult to generate. With rising costs, pages are being slashed and advertising to editorial space ratio seems on the rise. Enter PR 2.0, or getting publicity in the online world.

Before you start thinking of it as a poor compromise, think again. Online PR is helping brands and people connect to their target audiences in highly effective ways, and in many ways that traditional media cannot.

What media is covered under PR 2.0?

The following media can be considered to come under the gamut of PR 2.0:

Blogs: Write to bloggers to talk about what you are doing and hope they write about it in their blogs. The way you pitch to them may be different than the way you do with traditional media though. Give them something exclusive to talk about, or a new angle. Remember, bloggers are more passionate in their writing than journalists. Give them the right fodder to chew.
Social Media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn: Yes, you may not get editorial coverage in the classical sense, but just talking about your brand and offerings through the various interactive tools and discussion forums can still add up to get the desired effects.
Twitter: Again, it is about getting your word out even if in 140 characters and not 400 words.

Do blogs matter in India?

A lot of people are still not convinced about the effectiveness of blogs in India, with most of them getting low traffic and few comments. But there are some sound reasons why you should pitch to a quality blogger even if traffic is not so high:

Influencers to a niche audience: Low readership may not mean low relevancy. Many of the blogs are being read by people who may matter to the company/brand. These could be key customers, investors, prospective partners, other influencers and even competition.

Pitch to traditional media, indirectly: If the blogger covers a certain sector/s you can be sure journalists covering these beats may be reading this blog. And getting ideas for their own stories. Who do you think they will call? Your client, right? Get the drift?

Bloggers also write for mainstream media: More and more of traditional media are calling upon bloggers to write for them, even if it’s an occasional piece. You don’t think they will use some of the material from their own blogs, do you? And imagine if they have no idea what you do?

Reach out to the blogger’s friends in the blogosphere: Bloggers generally maintain close relationships with other like bloggers and pass on ideas and information to one another – your pitch to one blogger may reach out to another 20, giving you a high net cumulative coverage.
Heard of ‘viral’ and ‘word of mouth’? That’s the beauty of an online post – it can get passed around creating a kind of a viral effect. Unfortunately there is no way to measure it – but it is that invisible force print cannot create!!

Get found on the net: A newspaper goes to waste at the end of the day, but a blog post stays afloat in cyberspace forever!! And is searchable by anyone who is looking for information on what you do.

A sounding board: Treat bloggers as a focus group – and capture the buzz in the marketplace. And join in the conversations.
You don’t want competition to develop a better relationship: Ok, ignore the bloggers. And wake up one day to find your competitor having a field day and enjoying all the benefits listed above.

Bet on tomorrow: Why is Times of India so big? Because they bet on a relatively new business concept 169 years ago. Ok, we don’t think such timelines in this day and age but you get the point, don’t you? Just a matter of time before blogs go mainstream – and you don’t want to be caught with your pants in the wrong position!!

Time you get going

The silver lining to recessionary times is they make it easy to bootstrap a new initiative. If you are already working somewhere, the slower pace of work may allow you to create the foundation of any additional work you take on from home. If you have been laid-off or have chosen to strike out on your own, this is the best time to turn entrepreneur. Any time and investment you put it will be carefully measured as these resources are scarce. You will follow business logic more than your heart lowering risks and increasing chances of success. Quality talent may be more willing to work for you at attractive terms than when the economy is doing good and they are in much higher demand.

This is just the right time to get your feet wet. You never know where it will lead you.