In the previous post, Social Media Marketing (A Warning), I pointed out the potential dangers of using Social Media properties the wrong way. Here, we'll look at ways you can run a social media campaign successfully, without fear of ultimately doing more harm than good.
You have a website or an online business that you want to promote. You need traffic, and you need search engine rankings. Where do you start? Well, right now all of the experts are raving about Social Media - and how you can use these services to get "tons of inbound links" and an "avalanche of website traffic".
The problem is that they are both right and wrong...
Wrong because done without a clear objective, it can actually come back to 'slap' you. Unfortunately, most people get tips in twitter-size bits: bookmark your links on all the bookmarking sites, tweet all of your blog posts, set up multiple squidoo lenses, interlink all of your lenses and hub pages, etc (that list could go on and on)...
At the moment, some of that is actually working - and working fairly well even. But most seasoned marketers already know that it's short-lived, and that those practices will leave footprints that will ultimately backfire on you.
Its called SPAM. We all dislike it, yet to some extent people will rationalize that its okay to do in their own business. Using software to blast your links out to hundreds of social bookmarking sites... is spam. Setting up dozens of social media properties solely for the purpose of getting inbound links to your website... is spam. Even Digg'ing your own blog posts is spam (in my personal opinion).
Right because used correctly the social media services can give you a platform for brand awareness, exposure, networking, and a huge boost in traffic & sales.
As a small business, or an online business, social media campaigns give you an edge over larger competitors. Studies show that most companies are not yet adopting social media, leaving a sweet gap for the "little guy" to do big business in that space.
And that's what we're going to discuss here today: how to use Social Media successfully. Meaning for long-term benefit to your online business. I'll break this down in a "top ten" list real quick, but I encourage you to both take it literally... and also consider what I'm sharing and how you can apply it in any way that specifically fits your business model & marketing plan.
10 Smart Ways to Use Social Media... Successfully
1. Map Out A Clear Objective Your social media plan should stand on its own two feet, and not even include "how to get better search engine rankings". Consider how you would use social media properties if the search engines did not exist. Ideas to consider in your overall objective might include:
- Branding
- Networking
- Exposure
- Relationship/Trust Building
- Customer Relations (think @comcastcares on Twitter)
2. Customer Comes First While mapping out your objective, consider what your customer - or your ideal website visitor - wants to see from you. Get an image of that ideal person clearly in your mind, and consider what they see on their end with everything that you do. They are the person you ultimately want to attract into your funnel, so you want to make a great impression no matter where they find you on the web.
(Note: what impresses humans, also impresses search engines!)
3. Consistent, Quality Content The content that you post to social media properties should be both consistent as in regular updates, and also consistent with your overall message or objective.
If you are an MLM recruiter for example, provide quality resources for recruits. If you own an ecommerce gardening site, offer gardening tips. Whatever your message, you want to make it consistent across the web.
(One of my personal pet peeves is to follow a favorite author or blogger on Twitter, only to never (ever!) hear a single peep from them about the topic they are so well known for!)
This helps you achieve your branding objectives, and allows you to create the perception that you want people to have of you or your company. Anyone who follows you online should easily be able to fill in the blank: (You) is known for ___ . Can you even fill in that blank quickly & clearly??
At the same time, being consistent with your message and your branding lends towards your goal of relevance and theming when it comes to SEO.
4. Focus on Content, Not Marketing Too often I see people get this backwards. If you focus on valuable, high-quality content then that content will do the marketing for you.
You shouldnt be digg'ing or bookmarking your own content, but rather writing such great content that your readers give it an unsolicited digg or stumble. Your job is to write, and provide easy access to social media services where your readers can share your content with their friends & groups.
When people like what you have to say, they will share it - period. And when they share it, the search engines will take notice. Write something great, and let the rest happen naturally!
5. Caution: Dont Over-Optimize! Obviously you want top search engine rankings for specific keyword phrases, but be careful... because there is such a thing as over-optimization. Using the same anchor text everywhere that you link to (or request a link to) your site leaves a 'digital footprint' too, throwing up a red flag that you may be trying to manipulate the search results.
To avoid this, you want to use natural variations in anchor text for the links that point back to your primary website. You need a certain number of "click here" or similar links to give balance to your optimization strategy.
6. Stop Linking To Your Home Page "Deep Links" or links pointing to internal pages on your website (or blog) help to give it authority and depth. It is not natural to have hundreds of links pointing to your (general) home page, and none pointing to your internal content pages.
All other things being equal between two identical websites, the one with more deep links will outrank the other. This also gives you more exposure in the search engine results, since your internal pages will begin ranking for specific relevant keyword phrases.
For more on this topic see: 7 Practical Deep Linking Tips.
Social media is all about micro-topical discussions, so consider how you can introduce internal sections or pages of your website into these conversations.
Tip: Your home page may not be the best link to share with someone you meet while networking on social sites. Consider linking to your "about me" page instead for a more personable introduction into your site.
7. Be a Valuable Resource There's a reason its called Social Media, and not Self-Promotional Media. Keep that in mind when you are considering what you will post to your social media properties.
If all you post is self-promotional links and requests, you will eventually become a part of your readers "noise" and ultimately be filtered out. They may not unfollow or delete you, but they will begin to scan over your posts and tweets without even realizing it.
Avoid this by becoming a valuable resource in your niche. One way you can do this is by sharing links to domains that you dont own. And I dont mean your own squidoo lenses or myspace profiles - I mean domains you have ZERO association with. Provide value to your groups.
You mean, you want me to *gasp* promote my competitors?! Yes - and become friends with them too. Interlinking and networking is powerful!
8. Use Social Networking To truly achieve your social media objectives, you'll have to do some social networking too. Forget the word "competitor". Other publishers or webmasters in your niche are your best friends in the social media landscape!
One of your goals should be to locate every competitor on your level (or within reasonable range) and create an "inner circle" of friends or business peers. These are people you can interview or be interviewed by, exchange links, joint venture with, etc. Stop looking at them as competition, and start looking at how you can leverage each others position in the marketplace!
Tip: Dont ask for favors. And dont flaunt the favors you do. Simply follow, comment on, link to, or otherwise become "known" to select publishers in your niche and I promise that they will notice... and generally begin to reciprocate. Given a little time the relationship will form naturally and be mutually beneficial.
9. Build Rapport Get involved in discussions, reply to blog comments, ask for feedback (and then respond to it and act on it!), etc. People want to know that you're a real person, and not just a bot spitting out links and sucking in cash.
Dont be afraid to have an opinion or to express your thoughts on hot topics within your niche. Your unique voice in the market will attract your ideal visitors and customers.
Social media gives you an opportunity to be personable. An ecommerce site has its limits when it comes to establishing trust and building long-term customer relationships, so use social media as an opportunity to truly connect with your target market.
10. Link Freely - And Dont Apologize For It! This is somewhat of a combination of tips #3 and #7. One thing that really makes me cringe is the 2 words "shameless plug" - promise me you wont ever use that phrase (ugh!).
The people that follow you, subscribe to your updates, or 'friend you' on social sites... want to hear about your latest news & tips! And if they dont, they'll quickly UNfollow you - which is just fine too. This is not a numbers game or a vanity contest - its a means of syndicating and socializing in a professional yet personable way.
There is a right and a wrong way to hyperlink to resources and content on social media sites. The wrong way is to say "read my blog post" or "visit my website". The right way is to share a cool link (whether its yours, or something of interest to your readers from another website) and to open a discussion on that topic.
As an obvious recent example, I held an open discussion on Twitter.com (a popular micro-blogging service) all last week about the StomperNet promotion. I pointed to my two blog posts (here and here) freely as a resource, and also "opened the floor" for ongoing discussion. Those of you that follow me on Twitter saw that firsthand I assume. Consider it an example to use in your own social media campaigns!
- - - - -
The bottom line is that you want to have a clear objective, be a valuable resource, and use the social media services in the ways they intend to be used. Anything else will get you filtered out, unfollowed, banned or blacklisted... and ultimately be a complete waste of your time.
Done right, social media can currently grow your online business faster than any other means...
Next I have a Social Media case study to share with you that will show you some of these strategies in action, with great detail and very interesting results.
Stay tuned!
Best,
p.s. The original blog post in this series received over 50 Diggs (unsolicited) in the first few hours. How's that for a nice example of this concept at work? 😉
About Lynn Terry
Lynn, your posts are always so in-depth and helpful - it's like we should need a paid subscription just for your blog! Thanks for all this great advice! I really like the part about the 'shameless plug' - it's so true, if you offer value, and you're not spammy, and your topic is relevant - people want to know where your new information is posted. If it's not one or any of those things, they'll follow someone else - and that's how it should be.
Nice one Lynn, saved me a lot of writing, yet that's ok.
Am I missing out posting great content?
I will link to this lol.. 🙂
Giving my readers great content this way is as good. 🙂
Nothing shameless in linking freely without expecting anything in return, as we showed recently, good karma happens. 🙂
Great stuff, whens the next one lol.
rob 🙂
All I can say is wow! Great job Lynn! Thank you for offering so much valuable content. This is great stuff!
Great article. I dugg it, but when I was submitting it, Digg had a technical glitch and your title came out wierd.
It says, "Mediao Use Social Media… Successfully" instead of "How To Use Social Media… Successfully."
Lynn,
It is amazing that these things are so simple to do yet few do it.
The 'Do not over optimize' is very easy for me to follow, as I stink at SEO anything. 😉
I am still camping out waiting on my StSE2.0
@Lisa Marie, Please do not give her any ideas about charging us! If she hasn't had the idea yet, we sure do not want to bring it up. 😉
Thank you for the feedback - this was a very fun "top ten" tip sheet to write! The most interesting is the proof aspect - definitely check out the Digg link in the P.S. above. Its an example of Social Networking at its best.
In my original post, I linked to Charles Heflin's excellent blog post about social media footprints. This placed a trackback on his popular post (interlinking relevant content) and also caught his attention. The result? He sent out a "shout" on Digg to 100 recipients.
A marketer who sets a nice example of the exact concepts I mentioned here, no doubt!
By the way, thats a great tip for those of you that blog. I know I've mentioned this before, but you should always search out relevant blog posts to link OUT to. Not only is it a great service to your readers, but its also a means of 'social networking' and making yourself known to publishers in your niche.
When you link to a wordpress post, it shows up in the publishers dashboard - and also as a trackback on their post. When you find opportunity to speak with them directly, they'll already know who you are 😉
Again, learn as much by example and concept as you do by taking the tips literally. Similar to multiple top 10 rankings for promotion of a certain SEO course *grin*...
LOL Sheryl 🙂 I have a paid option at my other site where I work with a smaller group more hands-on. We do site reviews, live brainstorming hour every week, they have access to my products (free), I walk through back-stage pages & processes, etc.
Its not personal consulting - its not priced for that - but definitely an Elite community (details).
As for ClickNewz, it will remain free - no worries! 😀
Great follow up to part #1.
Good information to absorb and then tips to follow.
Sally
Excellent post Lynn and to my mind is summed up by the phrase "be of value to your audience" - you are provided tons of value here.
Very sensible advice, Lynn. For a beginner, concentrating on content more than marketing can be challenging. It makes sense in the long run, though. Today, I just noticed a hobby link site I started a year ago ranks #1 of 43 million. The only promotion I've ever done is exactly 2 mentions at a related forum I frequent. It has lots of unique content, though.
You're the best example I can site of the suggestions you make here. You practice what you preach and are obviously in it for the long term.
I love your style ... You simply and elegantly put complex concepts into easy to understand, bite-sized chunks... Beautiful!
You said ... "Studies show that most companies are not yet adopting social media, leaving a sweet gap for the “little guy†to do big business in that space."
This statement is very true ... Learn how to do social media right ... right now... You will be handsomely rewarded because the Internet is "maturing" in this direction.
Never before has it been possible to network in such a powerful way. The ways that exist online to leverage your presence have never before been found in any manner of communication in human history.
Thank you, Lynn , for your insight.
Thank you Charles... for the inspiration that kicked off this series. Your blog is an excellent resource, and I look forward to reading more from your archives and following future posts.
@Wade - Keep an eye out for the next posts in this series. I'll share a strategy in my case study that you can use to get exposure & traffic, even if your site/business is new online. Hint: It includes blogging & social media 😉
I think Online Social Marketing is leading the way...
However, its amazing how many people have a website, yet are not achieving the sales they want, the traffic they want, or the conversions they want.
Ironically, many of them don’t even know how much traffic they need to give them the income they want.
In fact, 87 out of 100 businesses we spoke too, had never done an online marketing audit of their website.
In fact, I think its fair to say that the majority of them don't even send out a regular ezine or newsletter, never mind using social bookmarking sites or creating profiles on social networks.
Too many website owners are dealing with the symptoms of bad or poor online marketing, and frustratingly spend time and money on all sorts of tactics, without addressing the fundamental core issues on their website that are (and will continue to) prevent them from achieving the online results they want.
Hope this helps.
Fraser J. Hay
🙂 Glad to know I helped in this, I have read Charles's blog before, I always did before I lost my connection. 🙁
It was his great free ebook that led me to him.
You should grab it, if it is still available. 🙂
Great to see the ACTUAL process being shown here as well as being advised about it.
Goes to show you should watch what people do as much as read what they say.
To many people say do this, do that, yet they do something completely different themselves.
THAT is one big reason I read THIS blog of Lynn's I have read it from day one, actually the old blog too. 😉
Because Lynn DOES as she SAYS, and Lynn also SHARES her own results with us, what more could we ask for?
I must get blogging! 🙂
Rob
The proof is in the pudding, they say 😉
That's what SERPs really stands for, by the way: Search Engine Results Pudding. Right? 😀
Grab us a spoon! 😉
I'll have some of that pudding! 🙂
Overall your list is right on, but I do see one possible pitfall. The sum of all your points I think addresses this indirectly but I think it's worth saying directly as well. While I agree a clear objective is important, there is a danger in balancing being genuine with being "on message". I think if you focus too closely on any one of the example goals you list, the temptation might be there to beat the drum for that particular goal. The trick (IMHO) is balancing providing value to the community while still accomplishing the goals you set out for your own campaign. If you lean too far towards your goals, you could be seen as spammy. If you have no goals, then it could devolve into something akin to idle chit-chat online. I believe finding the balance point will be the hardest part for anyone new at social media marketing.
I do love the line in #3. I'm writing it in my notebook to reflect on. Having people be able to fill in the blank of (You) is known for ___
My first reaction is _VibeMetrix_ is known for _enabling social media marketing the right way!_
We're just starting out, but if we could get people engaged at that level I think we would have been truly successful. Maybe it's still too vague, I'll think on it more but it's a great way to focus your content.
At it's core I think your list can be summarized in a couple of simple concepts, be genuine and provide value. We're trying to build those principles into our site (http://vibemetrix.com), adding to it accountability, tracking and reporting of campaigns. At the same time, we're trying to learn from the community how to help people do it the "right" way.
The problem with summarizing is that people dont grasp the roots of the concept. The problem with going into too much detail is that they may take you literally and not leave room for creative balance (as you pointed out).
Great points, Mikepk!
I hope you didn't take my comment as a critique of your post, I thought it was right on. I added what I've come to understand as the "core philosophy" as a complement to what you'd already written. Agreed that if you're too heavy on the "concept" part, people may not know what concrete actions they can take.
You also indirectly addressed the balance issue I mentioned with your points, but I thought it was worth spelling it out too. I still think that one of the hardest things first time social media marketers may encounter is striking that balance. Being on message vs. customer first. Having a consistent message vs providing value. etc... They're, of course, not mutually exclusive, but they do pull in different directions.
Not at all, I though it was a great addition 🙂
We actually talk about a lot of this in bits & pieces during the live webinars or over Twitter - thus the need for a more detailed explanation (IMO).
Excellent post, Lynn. Will be sharing it with many people who need this information/guidance when dabbling in social media.
All success
Dr.Mani
This was a cool article, thank you for this one.
Thank you Dr. Mani - I really appreciate your generous tweet about it yesterday too! 😉
Lynn,
You are so good about answering the most to the minute questions and then providing us with amazing information about that topic.
I have to agree with you on this one. This is a topic that could go two ways. They right way and the wrong way. And I am sure at one time most of us business owners have gone both ways.
True. I dont mind admitting I've been 'slapped' more than once myself. Not necessarily for anything "black hat" but for strategies I tested that were heavily taught or recommended at the time.
The web is changing though, and its important to be ahead of the game and plan for long-term success at this point.
Great article Lynn. Looking forward to your case study.
The right way, in my opinion, depends on the audience, wouldn't you agree?
Loving your blog Lynn and would like to reference it for a presentation I'm doing on Thursday next week at a marketing conference in London.
Sure you'll some ripples coming off that one too.
Agree with Charles, you do write beautifully and make the complex seem simple through easy to digest chunks.
Thank you Caroline 🙂
Jonathan - I do agree, absolutely! That's why I gave a few specific examples for specific niches. Its very important to consider your goals and your primary objective, and create a plan from there.
Lynn -- I really pay attention to your advice. I'm not in your niche, but I need to learn what those of you who are in Internet Marketing do so I can learn to market what I have with some degree of success.
I want to thank you for cutting through the gobble-de-gook for people like me who don't have a clue about hos to market something. I'm not a sales person but I do need to understand marketing -- and you're one heck of a great teacher.
Thanks.
Peace....
I came across this website via Charles Heflin who does indeed write some very enlightening stuff on SEO and web marketing.
I think in what you write Lynn you are both right and wrong.
You are right:
If an individual is self promoting, yes one needs to consider how they are positioning themselves and how thinly they spread themselves across the social media they promote in. If someone comes across as a 'spammer' that will hurt brand 'me'.
You are wrong:
1. But this isnt all bad - sometimes Paris Hilton is hated (when she is seen as being an airhead or rich girl party animal), sometimes she is loved (when she has something interesting or valuable to say). In either case the media network is there for her to use because she has created it and leveraged it constantly. They are there whenever she has got some content - good or bad.
2. If i am looking to drive traffic through online media to a content network where i make money from adsense or affiliate products then hell, i am going to use every trick in the book until the book closes on me and a new one comes along. If i can set up multiple resources across freely available media then it makes perfect sense to do it.
Take a look at offline advertising. No one talks about 'spam' there do they? ever asked yourself why not? The US Open was covered in JP Morgan branding. The Olympics had Nike swooshes all over them. Old school brands know they have to use as much 'old media' as possible to create brand and content presence and awareness. We are exposed day in day out to brands who cross reference their own promotions and their own branded real estate.
That is how marketing communications works when you have fragmented media.
Whilst i agree with your general strategic advice, i think its important to understand that as more online media is created and publishing online becomes completely de-skilled (who needs a web designer these days?) content will replicate and disseminate just as quickly.
I did a mixed media (video, photos, reviews) social campaign for a small fashion designer label in Europe. I absolutely hammered every potential social media outlet i could find. No strategy, objective: eyeballs and clicks. I tracked and analyzed my statistics to see where buyers came into the online store from. I then used that as a way of focusing my future promotion. Result: 200% increase on last year's sales, 300% more people on the newsletter and sales in brand new countries. The point here is that it was only after my 'spam' strategy that i could then have a 'focussed' strategy.
Sorry to ramble.
Thank you Ron 😀
The strategies I teach here are definitely NOT for the "IM niche" only - many of the SEO, blogging & social media tips (among others) work in ANY niche.
Great points, Matt - thank you! I appreciate your addition to the conversation.
I dont disagree with those points, and there are a great variety of ways to get viral buzz and mass exposure - at a very low cost.
My main point, and I should have specified, was in long-term success of a social media campaign - and specifically for those that are working to dominate their niche.
There's obviously a big difference in an ecommerce site or a large brand, and a small business service provider or niche podcaster (just examples).
Hi Lynn,
Thank you very much for this great post.
I never used Social Media before. But since I have a product launch coming up, I feel I have to.
If I wouldn't have read your two blog posts about it, I would have done it the wrong way.
All Social Media info products I bought so far recommended the things you think are wrong.
And now it makes sense to me.
Thanks again!
Peter R. Sherman
Excellent information. I have a terrible fear of accidentally spamming. Your suggestions will come in handy. 🙂
Thanks,
Shannon
Peter,
I should clarify on that point, ie "the things you think are wrong". Up until now those things have worked really well - and they still are at the moment. For inbound links and rankings, I mean. My concern is that Charles Heflin's footprint theory is obviously spot-on, and its a "shoot yourself in the foot" type of situation. It works great, but its temporary - and could do more harm than good in the long run.
And obvious point probably, but worth making I felt.
Excellent post Lynn and to my mind is summed up by the phrase “be of value to your audience†- you are provided tons of value here.
Thank you Stephen 🙂
Very nice article! Especially because here in Holland the use of social media as a marketing instrument is still underdeveloped.
I very much admire and like this post, the pros and cons of social media and how to beat the odds, very useful and helpful guide. More power to you!
Great Article. A quick hand guide to social media marketing. Thanks
Social media sites also give you a great opportunity to market through viral content or applications. I blogged about this here http://www.maxentin.ca/2008/09/promoting-your-website-through-viral-marketing/
Totally right. Deep links is what really lift up the authority of a website and not only pointing to the home page. That is balance in the use of links.
Good article. You definitely brought up some good points about using social media the correct way. By following your guidelines, I am sure I can drive additional traffic to my website.
Great article.
I like your no. 6.
I make my website to linking like a pyramid, if I draw the diagram of my internal linking.
On top of it, of course my main page.
How bout it, Lynn?
Thanks for all this great advice! I really like the part about the ’shameless plug’ - it’s so true, if you offer value, and you’re not spammy, and your topic is relevant - people want to know where your new information is posted.
Lynn, I have just found your site and am grateful. Your posts are really refreshing - they have lots of meat on their bones!
Recently I went through and culled about 85% of my email subscriptions because there was way to much self-promotion going on [#7] and I was just tuning out BIG TIME. That helped me sort through my inbox a lot quicker each day too. 🙂
I think what you say about your competition [#8] not being viewed as your competition is great advice - we should be a lot more focused on building relationships than worrying about others stealing our ideas and business.
This is a great overview on how to establish a great presence using social media. I think many people make the mistake of trying to stuff their product down someones throat and forget that people are advertised to ALL DAY, and are sick of it. A solid "guerrilla marketing" tactic like using social media effectively will go a long way in building return clients, and becoming a dominant source of information for your niche.
GREAT POST AGAIN!...
Hey Lynn, thanks for the awesome post. You're such an internet marketing rebel in terms of the rules you go by (IE the whole selfless marketing concept)...No one ever does that, everyone is after the "almighty $" and the quick sale as opposed to *duh* long-term relationships with people that will be more than beneficial in the near future!
Thanks! You rock!
Hey Lynn,
Just found your site and love the information you have given about social media. I am just getting ready to jump into internet marketing and have been reading and learning about the social media path for my business. I am a total newbie but believe this path will help me launch my business faster. Let me know if you think I am on the right path and do you have any particular suggestions about what my website should have to be readily accepted in the sphere of social media marketing? Again thanks for the information you shared.
Social Media should definitely be factored into any business model these days, online or off. Just as one example, see this story on a small local business taking off by using Twitter: http://www.clicknewz.com/1919/creative-uses-for-twitter/