Social Media Marketing (SMM)

It used to be that the only reliable way to find information online was to use a search engine.

However, with the advent of Web 2.0 (interactive, dynamic websites that promote or operate as social networks), people can now easily find information and websites that other human beings recommend.

The most popular instance of this is social networking. The social giant, Facebook, has over 600 million active users. Businesses use Facebook Pages for exposure and connecting with potential customers – a MUST for EVERY business!

Social bookmarking websites like Del.icio.us, Digg, and Furl allow users to share their personal favorites (bookmarks) with others. Users tag each bookmarked website with the keywords they feel are most applicable.  Instead of using a search engine to find information, people can search tags that will display all websites bookmarked with that specific tag. This amounts to a human referral or vote for the site and its relevance to the subject being searched.

Other versions of social media include blogging social networks – primarily Technorati.com. Technorati indexes blogs based on the amount of incoming links those blogs have, as well as the tags associated with their posts.

Lastly, two powerful new social media networks have revolutionized video and audio: YouTube and BlogTalkRadio. These mega networks allow anyone to be a  filmmaker or broadcaster, to share their visions with the world, and spread the word about what matters to them.

Businesses are now realizing that these media networks are potential goldmines stock full of future Speilbergs, Bloombergs, and Oprahs – all potential broadcasters of your marketing message.

How Will Social Networking Help My Site Traffic Grow?

Optimizing your Social Media Strategy is critical for almost every business.

In fact, some businesses are starting to see more traffic to their website from social networking sites than from search engines.

If your company is not using social networking sites to their fullest, you’re missing out on the easiest, fastest way to access large numbers of internet users and potential customers.

How Do I Get Involved in Social Networking?

Working with social sites is similar to working with the media. Give them a good enough story, secret, tip, or resource that they can sink their teeth into and you’ll have an army of talkers spreading the word about you and your business.

And this translates into referrals, which convert into sales on an average of 667% better than cold leads (search engine results). So even if you reach less people through social networking, your conversions will be far higher.