Everyone’s talking about social marketing. In every blog post, conference session, lunch meeting, hallway conversation…it’s all we can talk about.
“Is your company on Facebook?” “Do you blog?” “Does Twitter really work for businesses?” “How about LinkedIn…is it working for you?”
And all the answers are the same:
“Weeeellllll…we’re trying it….we’ll see what happens….might be a waste of time, but we thought we’d give it a shot….. not quite sure what to expect…..everyone’s doing it, and it’s free, so why not?”
Sounds pretty wishy-washy to me. And for good reason.
For those who haven’t yet jumped on the bandwagon, social marketing refers to the practice of posting information about your company on popular sites like Facebook and Twitter in the hopes that others will interact with your brand and ultimately spread the word online.
Problem is, everyone’s kinda muddling through it. Lots of people are trying different strategies, but no one is quite sure HOW to make it work.
Myself included.
Several months ago, I created a Facebook page for Stampless Marketing, my email marketing business. I use it to post my MAILbytes articles, and to share news and information about my company. Today, I have a whopping 22 “fans” – other Facebook-ers who follow my Facebook activities.
Is it helping my business? So far, probably not.
But before I get all bummed out, there are some definite advantages to the whole practice. Let’s investigate:
- These tools are free. We like free exposure.
- They encourage customer interaction. Looking for advice on a new product design? Customers will be happy to give it to you online. Want to hear what you’re doing right, or wrong? Customers will appreciate the chance to let you know using tools such as Facebook, Twitter or comments on a blog post.
- They help improve your web site’s search engine rankings. In a nutshell, by including relevant keywords and links on your blog, Facebook page, etc., you are tipping the scales of search in your favor.
So the potential is there…and given the fact these tools are free, companies have nothing to lose by participating. It does take some time and effort, but not all that much. And although the benefits are far from guaranteed, we always hear the success stories from those who post a video on YouTube that generates 10 gazillion hits in 8 hours.
But most of us aren’t that lucky. So for the rest of us, I’d like to suggest that we help each other out with a little experiment.
Let’s be “friends.”
Become my “fan” on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and I promise to do the same for you. I’d be happy to help you get set up if you need some assistance getting started.
And at the same time, let’s start an online dialogue on this whole subject. What’s working? What do you post online? What’s the best way to spread the word?
And, most importantly…is it really working?
I’d love to pretend that I’m an “expert” on this subject…but I’m not. Email marketing – the original, and still #1 social networking tool – remains my true area of expertise. But I’m also not convinced anyone is an expert yet, and I think we, as a community, can certainly learn a lot from each other’s experiences.
Are you in?
Tags: e-mail marketing, email marketing, Facebook, home building, homebuilding, internet marketing, real estate, social marketing, Twitter
