Small Business Marketing

Appropriate Social Media Platforms For Brand Building

Written by Kristin Marquet for Gaebler Ventures

Social media has become the preferred method of marketing for many online business owners. Even though social media has been around for quite a while, it is still going strong.

Even though social media has revolutionized the way of marketing, it is still time consuming and can become a full time job to continuously update and monitor each profile. To help streamline your business and make your time more productive and efficient, following this series of steps will make the job less overwhelming.

Getting Started:

• Conduct a Google search for social media sites that are relevant to your niche or market. Select the top five to ten (even though ten can be a little overwhelming) social media networks that seem interesting.
• Visit www.Ning.com as this platform offers thousands of social networks for just about any industry, field, and market.

Research:

• Conduct research relevant to your niche. Draft introductory emails to blog editors asking if he/she would be interested in allowing you to write for the site. Even though most of these opportunities will be unpaid, it will increase your visibility greatly. Writing bylined articles is one of the most effective ways to get free publicity.
• Even though social media has climaxed, it is still an effective and free tool for branding and marketing your company. www.twitter.com and www.facebook.com are both great places to begin researching, as they are the most popular social media sites.
• Sign up for Google Alerts to monitor your name, brand, and company's mentions.

Blogs:

• Get a blog at www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. I prefer www.wordpress.com as the interface has more features than www.blogger.com. You can customize it to look just like a website for a fraction of the price. Explore www.technorati.com to reach larger audiences.
• Brand Building:
• Use www.twitter.com as an online public relations tool to announce any relevant news, promotions, or contests.
• Get involved with message board communities and forums. Ask questions and give advice to others that ask specific questions. Add value to the forum.
• People on social networks might know one another. Make sure that you do not offend anyone. Be polite, friendly, and conscious about what you write.
• Do not exaggerate or make false claims on social networking sites because it is the best way to destroy your credibility and reputation.
• Ask bloggers if they would be interested in interviewing you when you launch a company or publish a book.
• Build relationships with bloggers who mention your site or company.

Video:

• www.youtube.com can be very resourceful if you know how to use it. Create your own channel and develop your own series of informational or entertainment videos.
• Video blog posts are both informative and entertaining. Consider using video when drafting blog posts.

RSS Feeds:

• Offer RSS subscriptions to get more exposure. The more you can spread the word about your brand and company, the better.

Mobile:

• Make your www.wordpress.com blog mobile. Make it accessible for both Smartphone and cell phone users. Check out www.mobilepress.com for more information.

Kristin Marquet will be receiving her MBA from Harvard University in Fall of 2010. She has worked in the marketing and public relations field for over 10 years.

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