Posts Tagged ‘social netwoking’

Social Media Marketing- How Much?

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

A company’s confidence in social media marketing directly corresponds to the company’s readiness for change.  Most online merchants have a firm understanding that social media marketing is critically important; however, they’re not certain how much it will help or cost.  The answer depends a great deal on the individual business and situation.

Social media solutions target customer relations; improving consumer satisfaction, trust and loyalty.  As such, these innovative practices will help to establish your Company’s brand and improve your over-all reputation in the marketplace.  Clearly defined, social media refers to online technologies and practices used by people to share opinions, insights and experiences with one another.  Consumers actively share information and experiences by way of text, images, audio or video; and deliver it to the Internet population utilizing:

• Blogs,
• Message boards,
• Wikis,
• RSS,
• Podcasts and
• Social Networking websites.

When determining the duration and cost of a social media endeavour, you must clearly define your company’s:

1. overall marketing budget,
2. target audience, and
3. reasonable expectations

By carefully studying these contributing factors, marketing professionals can determine how much social media marketing you need, and what kinds of social media marketing you can afford.

It is very common for social media marketing campaigns to the billed at an hourly rate.  Often, the purchase of a minimum number of hours is necessary; encouraging merchants to embark on small campaigns, as part of a larger endeavour.

Be prepared to allot a minimum of $1000 to set up and launch a targeted and effective, social media campaign.  Furthermore, ongoing maintenance, participation and expansion will incur additional costs that could exceed the initial investment.  The 20 to 40 hours a month that is dedicated to your social media success, validates the cost.

 TWMG- Corporate Web Development

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Getting Started With Social Media

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

The current proliferation of social media websites is the most pervasive phenomenon on the Internet today. Not since the dot.com explosion has the there been an Internet trend that is so widespread in its popularity. Social media is here to stay; maybe not all the big names will survive, but the concept will.

Social media has brought about a profound change to the online visitor’s experience. By properly utilizing social media websites; you can experience and enormous increase in your website’s traffic.

Listed below are introductory steps to follow:

  • Declare who you are to the online community. People should be able to relate to you. Create an About Us (Me) profile page and list your company’s achievements, abilities and aspirations. Take a moment to read From Geek to Chic- The Soap Opera of the Internet

  • Create a MySpace or Facebook page and link your biographical page (step one) to your social media profile. Don’t forget to link back to your website as well. Spend at least one hour per week developing your network. Invite friends to write blog articles about your website, products or services.

  • Install a blog on your website and publish at least one article a week. Be certain to provide an easy “bookmarking” feature to “bookmarking” websites such as del.icio.us.

  • Provide visitors with a forum. This will encourage users to discuss your products and services. Do not delete negative comments; however, be certain to censor hate speeches and bantering. Register your forum at BoardTracker- a forum search engine. For an example, view the Cornwall Seaway Forum

  • Provide RSS feeds for new products, blogs, forum postings, etc. An RSS feed provides “tidbits” about your content. Internet users often use RSS readers to scan “tidbits” and visit your website for more information if tidbits interest them.

  • Create short “how-to” or new product videos and post them in social video sharing sites like YouTube and Google video. Provide a few start and end frames in these videos to introduce your site with your site URL. Post these videos using catchy titles, “tidbit” descriptions, and appropriate tags; making them easy to discover.

  • Use social photo sharing websites, such as Flickr and SmugMug, to share pictures related to your business, products or services.

  • Provide a “Send to a Friend” feature to your website. This feature will send articles, product/service descriptions and savings announcements to selected recipients via email.

 TWMG- Corporate Web Development
View Kristoffer Howes's profile on LinkedIn

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