Article printed from SiteProNews: http://www.sitepronews.com
  HTML version available at: http://www.sitepronews.com/archives.html

Where's Social Media Headed?
By Nipa Shah (c) 2009

Barack Obama started using social media and the marketing gurus
went "Oh my God, he's a genius, now all we have to do is use his
name to promote this and voila, clients will be lining up to buy
social media marketing (SMM) services". Well, it didn't quite
happen that way. And the wonderful case study that was
"Presidential candidate Barack Obama" became a not-so-active
name on various online portals including, Twitter, where from
November 2008 to May 2009, his twitter update has had five
posts. Yep, only five posts in six months.

So what is happening in the Social Media world right now?

Well, first of all, social media website use has exploded with
millions of people using popular Web 2.0 applications such as
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and dozens of others. I personally
"play" and "work" on many, but my favorites remain Twitter and
Facebook.

Celebrities and politicians seem to have found a way to
pontificate one-way to their audiences. I say pontificate
because most of these are rarely engaged in a two-way
discussion, more times sending out their updates but not really
engaging with others who may wish to interact with them.
Politicians and celebrities across the globe have taken their
messages to their fans and followers on Twitter and Facebook.

However, millions of users and dozens of so-called SMM experts
later, small businesses remain offline and are positively
scared of using social media websites.

The business owners I interact with when I'm speaking at an
event or when I'm networking offline (yes I still do that) are
concerned about using social media websites to promote
themselves. They are worried about the lack of privacy and a
misconception that they need to be technically savvy to use such
websites as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. These same
business owners also mention lack of time and lack of trained
"marketing" resources which prevent them from taking the social
media marketing plunge.

For marketers, social media marketing means a huge opportunity.
The opportunity comes from being able to demonstrate actual
results to end clients in the form of visibility and generated
buzz. For small businesses who have taken the social media
marketing plunge, it means visibility at low cost. For everyone,
Social Media Marketing means; buzz, visibility, website traffic
and leads, assuming SMM is executed properly.

Social media marketing is here to stay and can bring tremendous
value to those who know how to leverage it. From gaining new
clients, to gaining visibility, branding, and credibility, not
to mention leads, social media marketing is one activity that
everyone needs to "find" time for and "create" a budget for.

As an individual seeking a new job or as a business seeking new
clients, here are some very basic yet very key strategies to
keep in mind when embarking on the social media marketing
journey:

1. Reap what you sow: This saying applies very well to
Social Media Marketing. If you don't begin leveraging social
media websites to promote yourself or your business and
especially if your competition is, you'll be left behind in the
dust of their visibility & buzz.

2. Make Time: Either make time for social media marketing
for yourself / business OR find an expert who can do it for you.
Not doing anything is not an option. Find a marketer who knows
social networking.

3. Land your next opportunity: Remember the impression you
want to cultivate online. You wouldn't go to a face-to-face
networking meeting and complain "how tired you are", "how sleepy
you are" etc. Then don't do it online either. Online networking
has reached a new level and you need to show your "networking"
savvy by creating an impression which will land you the next
opportunity, a new client or whatever you seek.

4. Don't end up in jail or unemployed: If you don't want
to end up fired or end up in jail, be careful about what you say
online. Professional behavior should be the norm (even for
teenagers who don't realize the impact of what they put out
there on Facebook). Prospective employers, prospective clients,
current clients, and anyone who wants to look you up, can and
will. Once you've put something out there, it is out there
forever.

5. Frequency matters just as much as content: Blogging
once a month or writing a tweet once every week or posting a FB
status once every other day is not the way to grow your
visibility. All marketing activities require frequency,
consistency, and long-term effort. You wouldn't expect one
advertisement in the Detroit Free Press to generate leads
immediately or ongoing. Similarly, online marketing requires
consistent, frequent, and long-term effort.

Again, remember, not doing anything is not an option.

Just like email and voicemail, yes, those now archaic
technologies that we don't even think about; texting,
Facebooking, Tweeting, blogging, and audio & video podcasting
are all slowly becoming mainstream. Social media marketing is
also fun, quick, and a cost-effective way to get visibility and
it provides the ability to connect with anyone, anywhere in the
world.

Implement Social Media Marketing correctly and you'll find that
practice does make us perfect!
================================================================
Nipa Shah is the founder and visionary who has shaped Jenesys
Group, LLC and is known as an expert in the field of Online
Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
(http://www.jenesysgroup.com/blog).
================================================================

Copyright © 2009 Jayde Online, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

SiteProNews is a registered service mark of Jayde Online, Inc.