Top 10 Social Media Strategies

Social Media Marketing is the fastest, most wide spread, newest form of communication.  Successful networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, Hubpages, and blogging sites are often not used to capacity by website owners because they are unaware of the social site’s ability to significantly increase their online visibility.  

Here are the TOP 10 ways to be successful in the Social Media Marketing world. Simply read, absorb and for increased brand awareness from online consumers.

1.      Be Personal– If you want to grow your network of followers, personalize your own profile. Do not turn your profile into a billboard for your company and/or product. You should instead be yourself and personalize your profile with a few things that let people get to know you. Be simple and honest. The more they know and trust you, the more they will learn to trust your company.

2.      Build Lasting Relationships – Use social networks to increase your reach. Get to know people through casual personal contact. If you truly plan on long term business relationships, you must allow these relationships to grow naturally. Being someone’s friend often creates the best business partners.

Relationships come first in social media, business comes second! You may have heard that relationships are built phases or steps. First is meeting someone, and getting to know them. Then it is building a relationship of enjoyment, where you find that you like each other. The last is a where you know each other well enough to build a relationship of trust. Before you build online relationships, you need to meet people, and give them the opportunity to meet you.

3.      Place Value and Trust– To build the ‘like’ part of “know, like and trust” regarding online relationships, you must provide some kind of value, whether it is educational, entertaining, or enlightening. Inform the people about you and your business in a positive, helpful manner. The trust will follow when you provide value with consistency, visibility, and honesty. Trust is the most important way to reach success in life and as a business owner.

4.      Create Contacts– As you make friends with people on social networks add them as contacts. The number of contacts you have will constantly expand as you take part in the social media world by contributing valuable content.

5.      Join groups – You must become involved in the social networking world if you expect to communicate effectively in it. By joining groups, you connect to more people. Your contacts will feel more of a personal bond towards you when they learn that you have things in common.

6.      Do Your Part— Within your groups, contribute. Go to activities, comment on interests, and give away free products and services without hitches. Remember, your friends all have friends who have friends who have other friends. The more you grow, communicate and build trust, the more they will too.

7.      Be Seen—Stay visible and active. If your contacts and friends don’t know you are there, they won’t stay in touch or care what you have to say. Constantly comment and add new groups you’re interested in and communicate with them online, and offline. Change your profile with added pictures. Upload a humorous video.

8.      Declare Yourself— Post your information often. By posting business updates you will be able to create links to your own website and pull your friends/contacts into your business world. Have subtle discussions about your products without sounding salesy. Do not constantly advertise your brands or company, wait until somebody asks about them.

9.      Discuss Honestly— As you communicate about business matters remember that people always come first! Ask for advice and for other people’s opinions on how to make things better. See what products they like to use and why. Comment quickly, responsibly and effectively. Listen to what they have to say. If you ignore them, they’ll ignore you. Honest communication and trust is the best way to receive success in Social Media Marketing.

10.  SPAM-Free is the Way to Be— While you declare yourself, stay away from SPAM, as it creates a barrier between you and a potential online associate. As author Vicki Berry said in an article: Rules with Social Media,
“It is particularly presumptuous and unprofessional to post your product ads or business opportunities on someone’s social networking profile. This is akin to walking into their house without invitation while they are having a cocktail with their family or friends, or perhaps even their own business associates, and launching into a pitch! This makes you stand out as an amateur. And it will get you ignored, un-followed, or worse, blocked.”
Social Media Marketing is an easy and extremely effective way to get your message and product out into the world. All that you need to do is be wise in the way you do so. Remember that it is about the people, communicating and exponential expansion.

Build their trust in you and prove to them that you are more than a business owner, and that you are truly their friend. If they know that, you will always have their support as you climb your ladder to online visibility and success.