Social Media Marketing (SMM) has been the buzz for many internet marketing professionals. It is here to stay. For a simple explanation, social media is the usage of various social media channels that consists of social networks, blogs, forums, social bookmarking sites, video sharing sites, etc all with a common goal – to facilitate social interaction.
The main aim with social media marketing is engagement with conversation. Conversation is king when it comes to social media as it is user generated. Social media is more like a dialogue unlike traditional marketing methods where communication is a one way process.
The importance of social media
There’s a number of popular social media channels online such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to name but a few that you can use to start building up your network. Twitter, a micro blogging channel is one of the most viral platforms on the web and can be actively used to “listen” what people are saying and what their needs are. Twitter facilitates instant interaction. It is a great channel to announce news, events, new blog posts, and catching up with old clients.
Facebook, with over 750 million users is big. It is a huge social media channel where businesses are engaging with people through Fan Pages, Groups and events. You can also use Facebook advertisement service similar to PPC.
The power of blogging
Blogging which is also part of the social media craze is one of the most effective ways to build up your presence online. It is a place to debate, discuss and share ideas about your services or products. With your blog you can control what information you want to be displayed to your readers. A blog together with an optimizes search engine optimization strategy can also increase your search engines visibility on the search result pages (SERP’s).
Even though many people have created blog posts regarding social media and the necessity for businesses on utilizing this new medium, do a simple search online. You will find social media almost everywhere integrated on the web.
