With the rise of all the social media channels, blogs, social networks and social communication mediums, social media has naturally created a new and exciting source of traffic to websites. A top story on a social bookmarking channel can drive much more qualified traffic than a top search engine ranking could ever do. This has created a new marketing way called social media marketing.
In its true form, social media marketing is a glorified way of word of mouth marketing through the usage of various social media channels. This ranges from plain text based communication channels to in depth rich media channels such as Pinterest and YouTube. The whole essence of social media marketing is to give people a solid reason to visit your website or blog post because of unique and valuable content that you publish.
Use social media to build trust
To be successful with social media marketing you should use it to build trust and recognition. You should focus on building your brand on the social web and never to sell products and services directly. You should brand yourself as the expert in your niche because you are the face behind your products. Be the unique voice that can help people with their issues and problems on the social web. By doing this you will build a community out of organic growth.
Social media marketing is completely different than search engine optimisation. With social media you are engaging directly with your targeted audience where search engine optimisation is all about generating organic rankings on the search engines and then engaging with your community.
The world is social and we cannot hide anymore. It’s becoming more and more transparant and everyone is now seen as a citizen journalist. Social media provides a way for everyone to have their say. With this, internet marketing has change drastically over the last 5 years. It’s getting noisy and out of control. The better you understand social media, the better you will know how to market yourself and your services, products and brand to the people you want to reach.
