How Can Social Media Help My Business?

[kindpark297]

[Mark]

It all depends on your target for your business. But if you use the right social media to advertise your business it can do great things, and its CHEAP!

Basically if it catches on, it can go "Viral" which basically means it spreads from person to person without you even having to pay for that extreme exposure.

Email if you have any more specific questions.

[Morgan Pfefferle]

With the right know how you can can turn social media into a marketing tool. Its a way we communicate with each other, it has become a part of our culture. With a little time each day spent on social media you generate real customers and see real results.
Start by opening up a fan page on facebook, making tweets about your product/business, linkedin, flickr, squidoo, youtube, blogger. These are all really great ways to get started with social media but not the only options. There is no limit to what you can do with social media, just have fun with it!
Indulge Media is really good with social media. Check out their blog here http://indulgemedia.blogspot.com for more information.

[Hajara Saleeth]

Marketing using social media is called viral marketing. Viral marketing is a form of word of mouth marketing where it uses the online means to promote a product. In other words, viral marketing uses internet to spread the message of product like how a virus is spread among computers which are networked. As an example, if an email message is sent passed to few audience from the target market they may forward it to others who have similar interest and the forward chain will keep on expanding the spreading the message.

Viral marketing uses different means on internet for its functioning. Means of viral marketing are:

Blogs- Blogs are journals, diaries and newsletter which are written in a casual tone of writing and they cover any kind of content. Blogs shows the latest updated post first enabling latest trends to be spread fast and the ability to comment on post enable the users to submit their ideas about the post. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows users to receive regular updates based on subscription which makes users continuously visit the website and spread messages. Most of the blogs are personal in nature which allow users t share content of their interest. Business blogs are used to publish informal information related to business. Blogger, TypePad and Blogster are some of the free blogging services.

Micro Blogging- Micro blogging service is a form of blog but kept in brief. One of most popular micro blogging website is Twitter which allows the user to share the content in 140 characters. In the case of twitter it allows the user to update followers/friends with latest happenings and followers can retweet it to their followers and spread the news.

Podcasts- Podcasts are audio or video files available on internet to download or streaming. Uploaded audio and video can be subscribed by users using Podcasts. Podcasts can be used to spread files which contain marketing message and product information. Apple’s iTune is a popular Podcast service provider who receive files from individuals and compaines and distribute them among wide rage of audience.

Community sharing sites- These are websites which shares particular type of contents among users. Users have to get registered and create their profile and contents can be shared among their friends and all users as publicly. This create a network among users who are interested in particular type of content making it easy for marketers to target their potential customers using a viral message. Youtube is a popular content sharing website which allows the user to share videos to spread messages across the globe. As a trend, businesses release their material on Youtube for it to get shared among target audience. Flickr is a community sharing website which allow the users to share photos among other users.

Forums- These are online discussion held which lies in between blogging and content sharing. Forums are discussions held by members which are monitored by administrators of the forum. The topic has to be initiated and the discussion continues on that topic. This is used to spread a viral message where the message has to be set as the topic. Yahoo Answers and DigitalPoint are popular forums used.

Social Networking- Social networks are websites which allows people to connect with other online users/friends through communication and interaction. Social networks provide sense of belongingness where the users share their thoughts and recent happening with their friends. Facebook and MySpace are the most popular social networks and Facebook has created a new era in marketing by developing Facebook advertisements using Fan pages. These advertisements let the business to spread their message to the target market after filtering using their basic information and users are allowed to “like” the advertisement which appears in the hope page of their friends which motivate friends to have a look at that content. Apart from advertising, viral messages are spread through link sharing where links from blogs and content sharing websites are posted to individual profiles, status updates, notes, photos and videos. Online chat provides the opportunity to spread the message faster than other means of social networking.

Niche Social Networking- These are social networking sites which provides social networking focusing on a specific area. These websites offer same functionalities as other social networks but difference lies within its community. Reason for success in niche social networks is that it target a community seeking a specific value. LinkedIn is a popular niche social network which focus on career development and exploring job opportunities by building professional contacts.

To read more about viral marketing please visit:
http://www.tutebox.com/business/viral-marketing/
http://www.tutebox.com/business/advantag...marketing/

[gurusmith]

Social Media For Active Marketing Of Your Business
A confluence of technology, networking and interaction by the use of pictures, videos, words and audios among others on the internet is what social media is all about. While being an excellent and in fact the best method which can be used to create credibility, awareness and popularity, it is also a great means to generate profit for any business, be it big or small. The fame and outstanding outcomes people have received in their commercial scenario and businesses has completely changed the face of the marketing world.

Much more than just the online conversations and discussions about your brands, social media can bring in a quick turnaround traffic to your business by getting associated with a major social network on the internet. The social media provides a great way of active marketing for your business and that too at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods . The backlinks your site obtains by associating with social media sites can help businesses experience a major impact in the rankings on the major search engines.

Social media marketing or SMM is an ideally designed option to bring about massive business exposure. Products get noticed among masses. The core of this amazing marketing strategy is building relationships. Requiring your time mostly, this is a method which is not at all heavy on your pocket and saves you from spending fortunes on other traditional methods. Understanding the tools which you can get easily and then using them effectively is all you need to master this strategy,thus helping you and your business to get the exposure and popularity you have always wanted. Businesses often find themselves facing enormous costs to reach to their consumers and consequently do not experience the growth rate and success which they actually yearn for.

Reaching out to potential customers and that too so easily was never possible before the Social media came into existence. The use of social media as an active marketing tool requires no thorough knowledge or hard work. One can start easily in order to help one’s business get popularity and recognition instantly and help it grow successfully .The tools that one requires are here: blogs, social bookmarking, social networking through facebook, myspace, linkedin and even Twitter, Thwirl, Friendfeed, also video and pics sharing through youtube, flickr, these are just few of the thousands of opportunities you can easily enjoy when you get active on the circuit of social media. No longer only a successful novelty, the social media marketing has emerged as a powerful medium that has completely changed the way the world use to communicate earlier.

Allowing instant sharing of information, these are great advertising tools which have helped business houses achieve the fame and profits they are presently enjoying. Helping you build relationships, Social Media techniques attract increased numbers of prospective customers for your business and thus leads to profit making .You could now build your business’s exclusive fan base with social media sites and become a part of this most effective marketing tool, which has virtually made the globe get smaller.