[slideshow]
Social Media defines the activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the sharing of words, images, video and audio.
This much talked about form of marketing, often called Social Media Marketing, is part of an overall marketing and branding strategy. It is a technique (comprised of infrastructure and content) used to market your brand online.
Cathy Mellett , director of Auckland Social Media Company, Net Branding believes that today’s marketing has followed the rest of the world and has shifted from a one-way broadcast to a multi-point conversation. Our team at Net Branding are dedicated to helping businesses use powerful new online and marketing platforms such as social media, QR codes, keyword research, engaging content generating tools and blogs, to get visibility, traffic, leads, customers and raving fans. “We pride ourselves on delivering affordable social media infrastructure to business in a form that they can then manage on an ongoing basis. Clients capitalising on Social Media yet reducing their ongoing marketing spend”, says Cathy.
Depending on your business and how you intend to engage with your potential audience online there are numerous social media networks available for including into your Social Media Strategy. These social media platforms have a different purpose and focus from blogging, networking, bookmarking, publishing to collaborative environments.
At any of the Net Branding regular training workshops, we discuss what we consider to be the current primary elements of a social media infrastructure and we are able to support our clients through their initial social media planning phase.
In particular and by far the most talked about social media tool is Facebook. Utilising a 3rd generation product of Total Social Media™(TSM) is the foundation of what we work with when creating results for our customers within Facebook.”
Originally developed for large-scale commercial advertising applications on Facebook, TSM acquired a worldwide license and created a system to market and sell the TSM technology to small business affordably. The potential of over 900 million users on Facebook alone with hundreds of thousands more using other social media sites creates a vast marketplace of opportunity and success for virtually any company utilizing TSM.
“Prior to the release of 2.5 unless someone was a highly capable web-designer or programmer, creating a unique look and feel to their business Facebook profile page was challenging, time-consuming and quite expensive” said Cathy. “There are also necessary skill sets in getting results within Social Media, you just can’t put up a custom tab and expect results. Professionals like Cathy Mellett and her team know how to utilize TSM to increase their customer base without compromising their unprecedented service” says Chris McMahon VP of Marketing for TSM.
The important ingredient on Facebook is “engagement” — going beyond broadcasting to actually interact with your fans.
Facebook uses its “Edgerank” algorithm to measure fan engagement and to determine which of your business updates appear in the news feeds of your fans. Your Edgerank score goes up when fans “Like” and comment more on your updates which, in turn, means your posts will be seen by more people.
While there’s no tried-and-true formula for everyone to maximize engagement all the time, outreach on Facebook doesn’t have to be like blindly throwing darts at a board. Here are two questions to ask yourself to make sure your Facebook posts are prompting maximum engagement:
1. Will this add value to the people I’m trying to connect with? As social media is a soft-sell medium, this means you should be providing your fans with value instead of hammering on their door with a hard sell sales pitch.
2. Will this update seem fresh to my fans? If all your Social Media updates sound the same, your outreach can grow stale and your audience might stop engaging. Think of interesting articles, posts and promotions. This variety is what will keep your fans returning to your page as they do not know what to expect.
Imagine a Facebook Business Page, which can act as its own mini-website. Customised tabs set your business page apart from others. When a potential consumer lands on your Facebook page you only have between 3-30 seconds to give them the WOW factor. Tabs show professionalism on a Facebook business page and allows your business to showcase your products and / or services. “Solutions that deliver this level of functionality need not cost the earth”, says Cathy.
For more information on our Net Branding Services and products please connect with our Net Branding blog for regular social media tips and news, please visit https://netbranding.co.nz/
www.facebook.com/whysocialmedia
Special thanks to photographer – Jim Malloy and image consultant – Sue Doherty
