Confessions of a Social Media Devotee

Social Media 101: Using Twitter Effectively

Wed, 30 May 2012 20:10:00 -0400

a. Don’t Underestimate Your Audience

Each of your audience members are each a part of the conversation you are trying to facilitate with your twitterfeed.

Thousands of conversations are taking place on Social Media platforms every minute. It’s ideal that members of your audience engage and participate in online conversations; ideal audience members don’t simply soak up the content you have created or shared, they engage with the content (thereby engaging with your brand).

What do engagement and particpation look like on twitter?

By re-tweeting, mentioning, and sharing/replying to twitter users who engage with the content that you share, you engage in the online conversation with members of your audience.

b. Facilitate Audience Loyalty

It’s important to effectively include your audience members who follow you. They follow you for multiple reasons: they want to hear about upcoming events, they want up-to-date information, and they want to be in the loop. Entertain AND educate your followers, and they will be loyal to the content you create and share on twitter.

You can entertain your audience by giving them “teasers” to anticipate future contests, giveaways, and announcements.

Bring your audience members along for the ride, and include them in these announcements. Educate audience members about your brand, and entertain them by providing them with incentives.

c. Hashtag and Link Effectively

Making appropriate use of hashtags, links and mentions on Twitter increases your presence, and your SEO (search engine optimization). Increasing your SEO gets you seen by more members of the online community, and has the potential to increase your online presence.

Link effectively by using sites like bit.ly to shorten links.Sites like this also allow you to monitor the online traffic you have directed to these links if you create an account with them (Creating an account is super easy!). This is the most basic form of online or social analytics.

Here’s an example of a tweet with effective use of hashtags and links:

Why is this an effective tweet? The keywords and geographical location are embedded in the Tweet as hashtags (making them searchable) and the pertinent link with more information is shortened.

[Is this blog post confusing? Maybe you want to check out the “Twitter For Dummies Cheat Sheet”]

Social Media: You’re Doing it Wrong. Think before you...

Sat, 26 May 2012 20:26:42 -0400

Social Media: You’re Doing it Wrong.

Think before you post, especially on a company page.

Social Media and public relations are without a doubt, incredibly dependent on one another. A social business is a competitive business. Being remembered for your professionalism on Social Media platforms, rather than for your sass, is ideal.

Why Social Media Marketing Trumps Traditional Marketing

Sat, 26 May 2012 16:24:00 -0400

Social Media’s benefits vary between companies and organizations. Marketing with SM connects your company in a tech-friendly way with our increasingly digital world.

SM Reaches Targeted Audiences

Tweets, facebook posts, and other SM posts can be modified to suit your target audience. Traditional marketing techniques typically target a broader demographic.

When marketing a product or service for a target audience, the potential clients and consumers in that target audience can be connected with in a way that mutually benefits them.

SM is Transparent & Authentic

A company’s online presence is dramatically increased with the proper use of SM. As a company’s initiatives and its members become more present and visible, their audience and their potential customers are shown a more transparent view of that company.

SM’s unique ability to truly connect employees and shareholders to customers gives authenticity to its initiatives and campaigns.

Shareholders, customers, and potential customers will be more loyal to a company they feel a greater connection to. SM can properly facilitate these connections.

SM is Free! (Almost)

SM Marketing is extremely cost effective in comparison to traditional marketing’s platforms: TV spots, newspaper ads, billboards, etc.

Proper integration of SM platforms and tools takes time, effort, and dedication. A social business is a cost-effective and digitally savvy business.

Although there are definite perks to using Social Media marketing, it is best when combined with traditional marketing. Old Spice’s Youtube campaign is a terrific example of how media integration can directly and positively impact sales.

[Since the beginning of Old Spice’s campaign, sales are up 27%!]

Dedicate time to analyzing your engagements and participation with SM for optimal results. SM Marketing isn’t ideal for your company or organization, it’s essential.

world-shaker: infoneer-pulse: How Do You Cite a Tweet in an...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:12:56 -0500

world-shaker:

infoneer-pulse:

How Do You Cite a Tweet in an Academic Paper? - Alexis Madrigal - Technology - The Atlantic

This exists now.