•5:18 PM
As I learned in advertising 101, the keys to make or break a campaign are consistency and repetition. Consistency of message and the repeating of that message over time. Another important and obvious fact is to reach your target demographic with that message (A CALL TO ACTION). And according to studies your audience needs to see your message at least 7 times for it to register.
These rules also apply to social media marketing.
Many people think if you post it once, "they will come."
Or if you are posting "informative or inspiring links", that it will garner you a strong following.....that is not necessarily the way it goes.
Social Media Marketing has another rule that goes beyond a simple ad or message, "interaction". Remember, the first word is "SOCIAL", it's meaning directly from the dictionary: seeking the companionship of others; friendly; sociable; gregarious.
The key is to find your audience and engage with them in different forums. If you write a blog, invite people to comment, give them a reason to comment. If you are on FaceBook pages, have a reason for people to become your fan, besides the fact that "they really like you". Twitter or Tumblr or anything of this ilk, don't just post statements about what you are doing with your time, or the latest and greatest news of your company or product, people can get that information elsewhere....use the opportunity to engage with people. Use the search to find people with common interests, personally or professionally. Start a conversation with a stranger based on what they are stating in their posts.
Social Media has made it easier to cold call people. You no longer have to leave a message on voice mail 52 times, before you have 30 seconds to explain who you are and your reasons for stalking the potential client...now you can locate potential clients and have a 'real" conversation with them, establish a relationship that is not high pressure or one in which you have to sell yourself and your company in lickety split time.
Social media means no one has to be a stranger. People talk about how isolating the internet is in terms of socializing. This can be the case, but you can find several opportunities to take the conversation off-line and possibly face to face.
I digress though; repetition in social media means talk to people as often as you can; keep fresh content on your social media sites and update your blog often.
You have to keep putting yourself out there with a consistent message and repeat it often! Remember on your Facebook page or any other landing site to have A CALL TO ACTION...people need a reason to pay a visit. So, be a good host or hostess and make them feel welcome.
2comments:
I am but a babe in the woods with respect to the phenomena called "Social Media Marketing", so please cut me some slack for being a newb. Yet even I can see this phenomenon potentially causing a paradigm shift in the way marketing is done. From my perspective, it begs the questions: Is it simple in concept? Yes. Is it easy? No!
Perry Marshall is probably one of the hardest working people I know in cyberspace. He literally wrote the book on Google Adwords and became a financial and professional success because of it. Did he stop there? No. He promotes his products and services by promoting through cyberspace and baiting his hooks unlike anyone else I’ve seen. He is one of the few people whose e-newsletters I get that I save consistently because of the potential gold nuggets they contain that I want to keep under my bed for a rainy day.
I agree with your perspective pertaining to warmer selling opportunities as opposed to cold calls. You may even have 2nd chances too, if you blow the first one. However, you probably will have few if any opportunities if you don’t stay the course and continue your quest to establish mutually beneficial relationships. I don’t see SMM being successful for those that don’t have a strategic plan to utilize this. People remember the person in high school that threw the parties almost every weekend as opposed to the person that just threw one. Which one would I want to be?
To approach SMM with the goal of being successful in that spectrum, I would want to be the Perry Marshall of my industry. I believe that those who are able to be successful in this medium will achieve incredible success. As to how to achieve that in a strategic manner, well….that is the question, n’est-ce pas?
Hi Mark,
I believe you are correct in your assertion about having a strategy to be successful in SMM, plus the SMO. I always ask a client what is their "goal" with social media. Is it to build an online brand, to sell their product/ services? The people in the company? Or is it figuring, if they throw enough things at the wall, something will stick?
SMM to be effective for business needs to have a plan and execution; benchmarks need to be applied too. A business cannot "sorta stick their toe in the water"; they need to commit and stay the course as one should for any marketing plan to be worth the time and energy.