Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [232]
Social media is not about constantly pushing updates and content into the conversation. Social media is about identifying those fans, friends, and followers who love your business, love your products, and love your media. Social media allows you to find and identify these fans and make them better fans. They become better fans when you empower them to talk about you as a business and reward them for their passion in marketing your business.
Of course, they don’t see it as marketing or as “pushing content.” They see it as recommending something they value to someone else. This is where the development of a clear message is critical from the start. Developing a simple message that your fans and loyalists can easily communicate to their friends will enable your message to go far beyond your traditional advertising.
The first step in this plan is to find those active and passionate people who are already knowledgeable about your business. These are the ones who already refer business and talk up your business to their friends. These are the ones who you want to reward for their help. Identify these passionate fans and learn from them. Find out what drives them and what they love about your company, your message, and your product.
As you grow your social-media efforts, keep in mind the things that your current customers like about you, and use that as your message online. Invite the fans who you have already to join you in social media by adding comments, adding reviews, or spreading the word about your business. Their word-of-mouth approach to their networks will push your message even further.
Once you have fans actively helping you, reward them and provide them with the tools they need to communicate your message effectively. For some fans, T-shirts, mugs, and hats can be all it takes to send them over the edge into a fan frenzy. For others, developing a badge, group, or some form of public recognition for the fan to show their pride and passion for your business will enable them to respond to a question or conversation with a friend.
If necessary, provide additional rewards for fan participation. Some companies have developed ways to reward referrals and word-of-mouth by presenting gift certificates or redemption codes. Some businesses are able to make a competition of fan participation; others are more subtle and simply reward for participation.
Whatever works for your business, the point is that your message will travel farther, faster, and more effectively when fans and friends are taking it to their networks and friends. It is much more effective to have even just 10 people raving about your company online more than you alone. This is the oft-forgotten value of social media—to enable fans and friends to take your message beyond your borders and into theirs.
Review and Hands-On
Develop your message. What do you offer, and what makes your business different or unique? Blendtec never claimed to be the best blender or even draw comparisons; it simply demonstrated the product and let it “speak for itself.” Rather than a message that needs to be shouted or explained, how can you quickly communicate the value that your business brings to customers or subscribers?
Do you have a see-it-to-believe-it product, software, technology, or other type of visual presentation? Do you have more of an immediate “push” of timely information to readers? Are you a service-based business that needs to react and advise people? Each type of business has its strengths toward a specific medium. Find your strengths, and explore the medium that will best fit your business and message. Find the medium that best suits your business, showcases your product, and enables a better understanding of what you and your business can do.
Take an account of the