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What is Social Media Marketing and why do I need it?

The yellow pages, newspaper ads and thanks to tivo, even television commercials are going the way of the 8 track player, the milk man and the pony express. All of this before social media marketing.

Today if people want to find out information on a topic like – social media marketing, they go straight to the internet.  People have access to the internet in their home, their offices, in their car and in many cases even in their pockets.  People won’t be able to find you on the web without an effective social media marketing campaign. It’s no wonder goggle has over 2 hundred million look ups every single day.   With over 6 million look ups every month people are certainly looking up the products or services your company may have to offer.  If you’re not putting that information on line with an effective social media marketing strategy, who is? Your competition, that’s who!

There are tons of sights on line that are making it simple for the average user to get content on the internet. These sights are referred to as social media because they use media and since you’re interacting with so many people on these sites, they’re quite social. Starting to form an idea of what social media is now?

Some of the biggest challenges people have when trying to market their business through social media marketing channels is where to start, how to effectively use their time and how do they all work together.

Don’t tell anyone but here’s the big secret, there really are only 4 steps to social media marketing.

1. Find people. (Facebook-make friends) (Twitter-get followers) (LinkedIn-build contacts)

2. Give content. (Content people really want!)

3.  Capture their information. (User login or Email list to receive valuable goodies)

4. Stay in touch so you can offer your goods and services to them.

Here’s another breakthrough idea in social media marketing,  you do not make money with social media.  You herd it right, you don’t make money with social media, not one dime. You make money by doing business with people that know, like and trust you. Here’s the raw truth about social media marketing, people never buy what you are selling, they buy “you”.  If they don’t know like and trust you, you will not sell one thing to them. You market with social media to develop relationships with people so they will know, like and trust you.  Then and only then will they buy from you.

Instead of overloading yourself with thousands of social media sights, you can use some of the most popular search engine friendly sights to accomplish these tasks.  Find people interested in your product or services with the search tools from the 355 million people on face book, the 35 million business people on linkdin, or the estimated 50 million people who will be using twitter by the end of the year.  An effective social media marketing plan with accomplish this.

Provide content, not commercials.  The second most utilized search engine, You Tube is a great way to do so. You can also write articles for on line magazines like Ezine or make your own mini web sites or lenses like on Squidoo.

You could make a blog or set up hub pages or do anything that delivers content like:  “How to” (social media marketing tutorials – get the picture) videos or “Frequently asked questions” about your area of expertise. Just make it content people are hungry for.

You then make a lead capture page that offers people something of high perceived value, an ethical bribe for giving you their name and e-mail.  This will allow you to send e-mails or newsletters and stay in touch with people who have requested more information from you, and now see you as an expert.

What does all of this do?

1.  It makes you credible.

2.  Increases referrals

3.  Builds new relationships.

4.  Demands higher prices.

5. Gives you outstanding visibility.

6.  It increases familiarity

7.  Builds trust.

8.  You can then offer your product or services.

9.  Because you are their perceived expert.

In other words, it makes you top of mind.  It helps people know, like and trust you.  Congratulations you now get it.  That’s social media marketing.

Social Media Marketing is truly a labor of love for me and I understand that DIY is not for everyone. If that is the case for you, come see me and my colleagues over at SocialMediaMarketingSavants.com and we will arm you with a comprehensive social media marketing plan that will give you great ROI (return on investment) for any budget.