Social Media Marketing and Its Implications For InterNETwork Marketing
“Social media marketing…what’s that? Never heard of it in Asia.”
I can almost hear you say that.
That was MY response when I first researched it on Google. I have been using parts of this form of marketing but have never knew the collective term for it.
So What is Social Media Marketing?
I found this rather formal definition on the internet…
“Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a form of internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in various social media networks.”
After reading it, I’m still confused as to what it is! So I have decided to put it in layman terms for you.
Basically, social media marketing covers all the activities that center around:-
- Creating content (articles, videos and audios) on websites or blogs
- Social interaction within social networking sites like Facebook
- Sharing videos on You Tube
- Bookmarking and sharing interesting articles on Digg….
…just to name a few.
Why Do InterNetwork Marketers Need Social Media Marketing?
A lot of people get online onto the internet and become all excited and hyped up about new technologies and forgot all about the “Why?”.
Remember the Dot-Com days? Without a clear focus on bottomlineMany have become Dot-Gone!
In business, network marketing or otherwise, we should never get into anything just because it is the in-thing that everyone else is doing. It would be wise to first evaluate the business implications before investing a huge amount of time and effort into anything.
So how exactly does this social media marketing help us build our network marketing business?
Well, in the offline world, a nicely renovated shop on a busy street will attract lots of customers.
In the online world, however, having a nice flashy website does not attract customers to you…You will need to write lots of relevant content on your website, and leave lots of content footprints everywhere, only then will you attract lots of targeted prospects to your website and opting into your mailing list.
Content creates Traffic. After you have Traffic, you can deepen the relationship and PREsell through emails. You can utilize social interactions within social networking sites to allow people to know you better as a real person. Done correctly, this will position yourself as a solutions provider. It moves your prospects through the process of Knowing You, Liking You and Trusting You. And when your prospects reach the stage of trusting you, Monetization is simply asking for the order 🙂
The Anatomy of Social Media Marketing & Where Should You Start?
With so many choices and options and upcoming variants, it’s hard to stay focused and get something productive done!I have recommended below a few areas of social media marketing that I have personally used to build my internetwork marketing business.
1) Website
My website is the centerpiece of my social media marketing strategy and is powered by Site Build It!. This is where I write majority of my content and where majority of my content gets found by Google. If you are wondering why did I choose a Site Build It! website over a Blog, you can find out more by subscribing to my InterNETwork Marketing Newsletter below.
2) Content Sharing Sites
These are sites where you can write articles on a variety of topics. The reason you want to post articles here is because search engines love them and they get found quickly.
I recommend Squidoo and Hubpages, and that you start by learning how to post articles there.
3) Video Sharing
If you have done some searches on Google, you will find that some of the results are videos! Videos are also content (most people miss this one)! People can find your video if they searching for the keyword that you have put into your video’s description.
I recommend You Tube (for short videos) and Google Video (for long videos).
4) Social Networking Sites
These are like those clubs and societies that you have in the real world. People socialize, play games, flirt…whatever in these social networking sites, pretty much like what happens in the real world too! But the best part of these social networking sites is the ability to connect to your friends’ friends’ friends’ friends’ friends (you get the idea?), and keep track of those relationships. This is impossible in the real world.
There is also this function of updating your profile status to let people know what are you doing at the moment. This allows people to “follow” you and know you as a real person. Also, after you have written a new article, you can update your status in your profile with the url and people may actually click to read what you have just written.
I recommend that you start with Facebook, play around with it and make some new friends online! You may also what to check out Twitter, which basically lets you know what other people are doing and tell other what you are doing (it’s fun, just don’t get addicted to it).
5) Social Bookmarking
After you have created so much content, you can share it at social bookmarking sites, so that even more people will find your content and come to your website. I personally used Digg and StumbleUpon.
I hope my recommendations gives you some direction as to where to start in this vast, complex, but yet exciting area of Social Media Marketing.
