Christina Mertens
Instructor Gray
CIS 135W
5 December 2011
Social Media:
A Marketing Revolution
Before the explosion of social media on the web, and before On-Demand television was the
norm and digital music and satellite radio surpassed compact discs, a marketing plan consisted of
commercials, radio advertising, newspaper space, and fliers to spread the word for businesses.
Those expensive days are a thing of the past. According to one article, such forms of “one-way”
marketing simply don’t work anymore. We are overwhelmed with this type of advertising,
accustomed to as many as thirty-five hundred interruptions a day, that we have conditioned
ourselves to tune out such annoying messages (Nash).
Creating a social media marketing platform is not only cost effective, but it’s greener (less paper
circulating the planet), and capable of reaching a massive number of people with the push of a
few buttons. “A blog post, tweet, or YouTube video can be produced and viewed by millions
virtually for free” (Zarrella 3). Who could argue with that kind of reasoning?
The Social Networking Mongrels:
The image below illustrates the popularity of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
(among others) in relation to each other:
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Though Facebook takes the lead, perhaps Twitter is the biggest marketing gem available. Like
Facebook and LinkedIn, it’s free to sign up, and using Twitter is no more difficult than sending a
text message from a cellular phone. Limited to one hundred and forty characters—called a
tweet—Twitter makes it easy to reach your followers from your computer and while on the go.
Though keeping those followers interested might not be so easy. It is important to create a
“balance” between advertising, offering worthwhile information, and tweeting a few “personal
elements to give people a feel for the human side of your company,” says Kyle Lacy, author of
Twitter Marketing for Dummies (12).
Twitter allows you to attract followers—and possibly potential customers—by simply tweeting
useful information. But don’t just tweet about your company’s services, Lacy warns. Be sure to
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share news stories, articles, and other valuable links relating to your industry. This enables you to
“become a reference for people who are looking for information,” Lacy says (14). Using this
strategy is a good way to gain followers. Another thing that makes Twitter so powerful is its retweeting capabilities. When one of your followers re-tweets something of yours, the message is
displayed to their entire base of followers, and so on each time the message is re-tweeted. In
terms of marketing and spreading your brand by word of mouth, that is a lot of people reached in
very little time.
As with Twitter, the key to using Facebook as part of a marketing plan with any amount of
success goes beyond the sign up page. There are two different kinds of Facebook accounts.
Profiles are the type of accounts most people use, while Facebook Pages, also known as Fan
Pages, are popular for businesses, celebrities, and other professionals. “Unlike Facebook
Profiles, Pages are visible to everyone on the internet and are generally better for long-term
relationships with your fans, readers or customers” (14). By setting up a Facebook Fan Page, a
business can promote their products and services by utilizing several techniques, including
keeping the page’s content fresh, engaging new visitors, and using contests as a promotional tool
(Facebook). Also, choosing the right profile picture, adding interesting photo albums (for
example, business logos and behind-the-scenes pictures can catch the eye of potential
customers), and posting videos pertaining to your business can liven up a page and makes things
interesting (14).
“The entire notion of social media is built upon interaction and two-way communication”
(Facebook). Possibly, the biggest reason professionals should give Facebook a try is the instant
interaction it gives them with customers. A traditional website won’t give you that, and neither
will an ad in a newspaper or sixty seconds on the radio.
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No marketing plan would be complete, however, without adding LinkedIn to your arsenal.
Though the image above suggests it is underused in comparison to Facebook and Twitter, taking
into consideration Google’s ranking system alone should be enough incentive to sign up. In an
article for an online social media guide, writer Naomi Trower states: “Likely if you Google your
name and you have a LinkedIn profile, it will show up on the first page of Google.” That is
powerful in itself. LinkedIn is geared for professionals and offers many web 2.0 technologies,
such as linking a blog, online document editing, forming groups, and the ability to share
presentations. There are many more features of LinkedIn, but the “ranking authority of LinkedIn
on Google” (Trower) can certainly help a business get their name out there in cyberspace.
The Blog: An Interactive Tool That Ties it All Together?
Have you ever been to a blog and noticed all of those little buttons? “Follow Me on Twitter,” the
blue button with the bird logo advertises, while another button entices you to “Like” whatever
content you are reading on Facebook. There are all kinds of ways to connect your social media
networks and, like a two-way street, drive traffic to and from them. The photo bellow shows how
all of your social media profiles can be interconnected:
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But what brought you to the blog in the first place? The magical word is content. Blogger Rohit
Bhargava talks about what makes a blog successful for personal marketing. “The really
successful blogs are the ones that have a point of view.” He goes on to say how a “deliberate
point of view” and “original ideas” will gain not only your readers’ respect, but their attention.
Bhargava offers several tips in his article. Second on the list is networking. In order to gain a
following—and this is especially true for personal marketing—you have to meet “the right
people.” By linking to your influencers, you up your chances at getting noticed, because
“bloggers pay attention” to those who link to them. Other important tips include adding the right
key words and tags so search engines will pull up your blog, writing about “what you know,”
and creating an archive. It’s also helpful to your readers to have a search option available so they
can look for specific topics and older posts.
The internet and Web 2.0 technologies have changed the way people do business and how they
connect to each other. More and more people are turning to online shopping, and sending letters
through the Post Office is being passed over in favor of email and messaging. It’s convenient and
you don’t have to buy a stamp or leave the comfort of your home. People are turning to the
internet for their news, using On-Demand to watch commercial-free programming, and plugging
in their iPods to listen to music. It makes sense that the way businesses reach potential customers
has changed as well. And in the case of social networking sites in regards to marketing, there is
plenty of evidence out there that suggests the change has been for the better.
Bibliography:
"14 Powerful Tips for Marketing on Facebook." Social Maximizer.
http://blog.socialmaximizer.com/14-tips-for-marketing-on-facebook/ (4 Dec 2011).
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Bhargava, Rohit. "Using Blogs for Personal Marketing." Influential Marketing Blog.
http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2006/02/using_blogs_for.html (4 Dec 2011).
"Facebook Marketing Tips: Make the Most of Your Fan Page." TopRank Online Marketing
Blog. http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/01/facebook-marketing-fan-pages/ (4 Dec 2011).
Lacy, Kyle. "Part 1: The Future of Twitter in Business." Twitter Marketing for Dummies.
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2FI_suXXGJkC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=twitter+
marketing&ots=7PR56XHDDa&sig=lYf0QQxGrCpGMSyoTS879R1Wrec#v=onepage&q&f=fa
lse (4 Dec 2011).
Nash, Dave. "The old ways of mass marketing are dead." Dave Nash.
http://davenashtraining.com/site/2010/05/04/the-old-ways-of-mass-marketing-are-dead/ (4 Dec
2011).
Trower, Naomi. "6 Powerful LinkedIn Marketing Tips for Small Businesses." SocialMedia
Examiner. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/6-powerful-linkedin-marketing-tips-for-smallbusinesses/ (4 Dec 2011).
Zarrella, Dan. "What is Social Media Marketing?" The Social Media Marketing Book.
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=chd3yfExXMEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=social+
media+marketing&ots=u5J2t2y6ZY&sig=PqLSorc0qln9NTCltY4NZHAtHgU#v=onepage&q&f
=false (4 Dec 2011).