Internet marketing is not as easy as we would hope, especially when it comes to effective online business branding and working within a budget. In this case, you need to pay attention to every resource and detail of how you market your business on the Internet. Incorrect processes waste time and money. Great online marketing strategies provide increased exposure and conversions online. The rapid success of the brand is the goal.
How do you achieve your online branding goals in the most efficient way possible?
Social Media Marketing (SMM) has become a popular alternative to online business branding. Companies no longer think of social sites (ie Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn) as “kids’ websites.” They are valuable Internet marketing and networking resources for businesses. On the other hand, there are 5 main problems related to diving into SMM without the right knowledge and strategies. These can “make” or “break” your success in social media marketing:
1. FIRST STEPS
Make wise decisions early on and follow through with an “action plan”!
Before you get started with social media marketing, you need to eliminate the need to join all the social sites on Google. It doesn’t hurt to have a presence everywhere on the internet, although there’s no benefit to wasting time setting up an unused social account. The site owner can either remove it, OR it will be outdated and look unprofessional. Also, there’s no way he can “work” everyone unless he has a team helping him. You will still want to be insightful and make a plan of action. You need this to properly brand your business through social media marketing. You also need this action plan to position your company correctly from the beginning. This concept is valid in internet marketing in general.
2. PROPER CONFIGURATION
See where they work and play on the Internet!
You need to learn how to configure and position your company with the best social networks and websites. Some initial positioning details to consider: (a) determining the “best social sites” for your niche and interests, (b) choosing the correct username for your individual profile links, (c) choosing the information and the most attractive media to share, (d) develop an ability to filter activity according to what is appropriate on a particular social site, (e) set a schedule that allows for working as many networks as possible, (f ) choose the best initial connections… and so on.
Keep in mind that account settings, network protocol, niche, and viral marketing go hand in hand over time.
Also, some social sites have a more playful vibe than others; even those with a professional approach. You need to select websites that not only fit your company’s focus, but also the personal interests of the people who will “work” the social media marketing process for you. Note: Don’t let “playful” networks stop you. One of the goals of social media marketing is to reach your target markets where they work and “play” on the internet.
3. IMPLEMENTATION: WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO
Don’t just “wing it together”; move in prepared to effectively market for your business.
Your activity should include a pre-defined social media optimization (SMO) strategy. This SMO is a combination of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media Marketing (SMM). Streamline the professional results you require for your business. It’s easy to assume that SMM is simply setting up social media and marketing. Although this is part of the process, social media is not all that social media marketing entails. It is suggested that you have a website and a blog. You must optimize the search engines of any personal resource before SMM. You need a second set of keywords that don’t conflict with your personal virtual properties, yet complement your efforts.
Content is key in this external marketing process, therefore blogs, articles, comments, discussions, images, videos, links… everything SMM needs to match SEO.
There is a very fine line between what is considered advertising and marketing; spam or valid content. Some social sites are flexible and some are not. You need to go virtual with a professional action plan and work the network according to the infrastructure provided, but with the intention of producing fast conversions.
4. TESTING, MONITORING AND REFINING
You will need to test, tread, track, and refine before you can execute a strategy.
Just like with an offline business plan, your online branding strategy will need to be “tweaked” and updated for the following reasons: (a) the internet is constantly changing, you’ll need to update accordingly; (b) search engine rankings, blog/website traffic and subscribers mean absolutely nothing if you can’t convert this activity into sales.
You can’t move forward if your action plan isn’t working for you.
5. PRIORITIZATION OF TASKS: MANAGEMENT OF MONEY AND TIME
As the old saying goes, “time is money”.
If you get an important point from this article, what you need to remember is to prioritize “time” and “money”. Internet marketing is not easy for most; especially when you are merging into unknown arenas. Time and money are double-edged swords. Running your own brand online is only time consuming and profitable if it is making you money. The reality is that you won’t convert or earn money at first because it takes time to learn internet marketing. This is time that busy professionals don’t have, so you must put in extra hours or hire an expert to do the work for you. If you choose to do your own search engine optimization and social media marketing, you need to prioritize whether the majority of your activity is in learning, research, or implementation (content, SEO, SMM) at any given time. The advantage is that you can adjust this as needed.
Regardless, a proper online branding strategy will include both the technical and the social, therefore they are all one in the same time-consuming process.
Online branding and social media seem to be easy, on the surface, although it is not a simple process. There are defined strategies that should include both SEO and SMM to create a process called Social Media Optimization (SMO). This SMO is actually the online marketing that you want to do for your business.
When done correctly, SMO will produce immediate responses that are easy to track, increase sales, and create popularity that will contribute to rapid brand success. You can turn around sales/marketing conversions for your business in a few days or gradually divide and conquer your competitive online business field. In other words, your company can market as aggressively or conservatively as necessary. This is based on how your company is equipped to handle growth.
In this generation of social media marketing and search engine optimization, it’s in your best interest to learn how to properly brand your business online or find someone who knows how to do it for you.
