Social media marketing is rapidly becoming one of the most popular ways to promote your online business and establish yourself as a brand. If you are not yet using social media it is time to look at an overview of how it works and why it is important to your online business.
Everyone is using social media nowadays and new online business owners are using it as a tool to create a buzz about their new product or service. Here is an overview of some of the tools that are used for social media marketing and how they can benefit your online business.
Social Networking
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter will help you to develop a client base for your new online business. Although most people are under the impression that social networking is for the younger crowd to socialize with their friends, it is also used by many business professionals to network and build a contact list of clients.
Facebook: If you set up a professional profile with Facebook that describes your area of expertise, you can start offering high quality information that is useful to other people with similar interests. This helps you to build a network of clients that will most likely be interested in your business in the future. Your profile allows you to create a link back to your website or blog and if you offer quality information, people will want to know more and click through the link to your site.
Twitter: Twitter is a microblogging site where you can communicate with others through 140 character messages. Although you are probably saying, “What can I do with a 140 character message?” Well, the answer is “Quite a lot!” Many business professionals use Twitter to “tweet” useful information that is related to their area of expertise. If you do this on a consistent basis you will gather a large client base of followers that will be interested in learning more about your business.
Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon allow you to set up a professional profile and add your website link to a directory provided by the site. To participate in social bookmarking sites you can create high quality articles that people vote on. The more votes you receive on the article the better your chances are of having the article appear on the home page of the site. If this happens, you could literally have hundreds of thousands of visitors to your website or blog within a very short period of time.
It is also important to note that you should find other professionals with similar interests and take an interest in what they do. If others on the site think you are using the site for your own benefit they will tune you out and lose confidence in anything you have to offer.
Video Marketing
Many online business owners are using online video sites such as YouTube and Viddler to create high quality videos related to their area of expertise. Video marketing sites like YouTube are free to use and all you need is a PC equipped with a webcam to create an educational video related to your business.
When you use video marketing sites you set up a professional profile and then offer a “how to” video related to your area of expertise with a link back to your website. If others find your video useful they will share the link with their friends.
These are some of the tools you can use to get involved with social media marketing for your business. If you are new to online business social media is a great way to get yourself established as an expert in your field of expertise and, if you offer quality information you will become successful in building a large client base for your online business.