Struggling to set up a Social Media Marketing plan for your business? You know you should be doing something, but what? How does this whole thing really work, anyway?
First, keep the main thing, the main thing – The only thing you want to be selling, marketing or branding online is YOU. Not your company; not your products; not affiliate programs, etc.
Set yourself up as a resource for others and always focus on providing content and value for those who find you.
It’s all about building relationships and turning high tech into high touch by truly engaging people. It’s not having 20,000 followers who have no idea who you are or what you’re about. It’s about having a tribe of followers who know your name; know your message and are interested in what you have to say.
Here are some things you might factor into your daily and weekly marketing plan using Social Media for your business –
Facebook – login daily; make status updates; keep it a mix of business and social (your followers want to get to know YOU, not your “deal!”); acknowledge birthdays; make friends – find 10 or 20 new friends each day who you share common interests with; check out events; join groups and get involved in the conversation.
Twitter – offer value and social interaction through your Tweets; engage in other conversations going on; find new followers from your target markets and areas of interests; create more than just a one sided conversation.
Blog – create a new article each week for your blog; this piece of content can easily turn into a Note on Facebook; An article on an article publishing site; a discussion piece on a group or forum; and content for a video. Make you content ideas really work for you.
Video Marketing – create a video once a week for YouTube and other video sites. Brainstorm a list of 30-40 topics and make 3 -6 minute videos around each concept. Use books and other resources for your ideas and then put it into your own words. Upload your videos to Facebook and also use on your Blog. Again, make the most of your content.
Pages, Groups and Forums – Get engaged with PEOPLE through conversations online. There are always people on groups who know less than you and more than you. Learn from those with more knowledge and interact with them. Be a helpful friend to those who know less and create a following. These are NOT advertising platforms but rather a place for you to join, get known, develop your brand and reputation and engage people to learn more by clicking back to your profile or blog.
I highly recommend you read “Tribes” by Seth Godin and “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuk. Two great books to get your mind wrapped around the kind of “Community” you want to create online and the kind of commitment/action steps it REQUIRES religiously to make it happen.
It won’t happen overnight. And there will be days you feel like quitting. The beauty of the internet is that every step you take builds on the next and begins to leave a “footprint” that leads back to you. The more footprints you create, the more ways people can find you.
Before you start feeling terribly overwhelmed, STOP – take a deep breath and take it slowly. One platform at a time. Learn more on how to do this successfully in my book – MLM, the Internet and YOU!
Choose the methods online that you have passion about. For me, I love socializing and building relationships on facebook; I enjoy blogging and writing articles; and I LOVE video marketing because it allows me to get the message out to both readers and non readers; and it creates more of a bond and a feeling of connection.
Follow your passion and always be asking “What can I offer my tribe?”
<—— Did this information help you? If so, it would mean a lot to me if you would share it with others!!! And, share your comments below!
Let’s have some conversation!
EXPECT Success!
i have tried social media marketing for getting our new products to be known on the market. it seems to work well specially if the audience is targeted .;
Sovi, thanks for joining in the conversation. And you are so right – when it all comes down to it, we get paid for those things!
Always keep that at the forefront!
EXPECT Success!
Jackie Ulmer
hi…
many people said that basically each of us is a marketer …. we got money from ‘selling-buying’ activities..
nice post.. thank you..
Michele,
You are right, we are all learning and staying in learning mode is critical, as things are always changing! And, we only get one shot to make a first impression, and for some, this will be lasting.
Many are not savvy in the world of social media marketing and so there is no direction or guidance.
I like to fly by the rule – if I wouldn’t do it offline, I won’t do it online!
That has served me well!
Thanks for sharing.
EXPECT Success!
Jackie Ulmer
Great post, Jackie! Thanks! I like the structured plan for how to schedule my social media interaction.
I totally agree about over posting the product or opportunity. There is a woman in my community, very smart and accomplished in the world of higher education, who joined an MLM. She was all over FB shouting about it with little to no response to her status updates. I’m sure it was discouraging for her and it made me wonder, where is her upline in all of this? It’s unfortunate that they were not more social media savvy in order to give her better guidance before she crashes and burns right out of the gate.
Anyway, we’re all learning as we go, right? The only sure way to fail is to quit in this game!
Blessings,
Michele
.-= Michele Curtin´s last blog ..Check Out the St. Patrick’s Day Edition of My Monthly Newsletter! =-.
Like Kim I am not always comfortable in front of the camera. One way I have been able to do videos for You Tube and my blog is to create tutorials on topics my audience has an interest in. This gives my audience valuable info they can use and all I have to do is provide the voice.
My biggest hurdle has been limiting my time socializing. You can get so caught up that before you know it a few hours have gone by.
.-= Patty Reiser´s last blog ..Storybooking =-.
Well, I guess I would ask (because it’s always my question!) who would you videos be about? YOU or the audience you might serve by sitting down and having a conversation with the camera, who you “morph” into a single friend and just chat?
The “world” is less interested in your perfection than you are! Hope that makes sense. I have learned to embrace my flaws in video and know that they make me more human. Hope that makes sense!
EXPECT Success!
Jackie Ulmer
I CAN do all of those – except I have a HARD time with the confidence for YouTube. I don’t even like posing for pictures, much less sitting and filming and then posting for all the world to see…..
Any hints to overcome?