Not surprisingly, many businesses have a tough time understanding exactly how social media fits into their overall marketing plan. Social media marketing seems like more of a catchy phrase that consists of nothing more than tweets and posts. In actuality, marketing with social media is much more than that. No, it won’t transform your business into an overnight success, but it can be used as an extremely effective tool when you incorporate a solid plan and strategy behind it.

At a minimum, your social media marketing plan should include a blend of public relations and marketing tactics, as well as evoke flexibility, patience and commitment for the individual or team who will be executing it. Previously, we’ve shared what social media can and can’t do for businesses and it’s important to make sure that you have realistic expectations and a well-developed understanding of what social media is and what it requires before you begin planning.

Pick Your Marketing Objectives

Here’s the broken record part of this post – you have to begin with the end in mind. You’ll hear this from just about anyone who’s ever had a hand in developing marketing plan. Decide what your objectives are and why you’re putting a social media plan together. What are the things that you want to achieve? Are your objectives sustainable and realistic? Put your thoughts together and dedicate some time to creating this cornerstone of your strategy.

Know Your People

You need to know who you’re trying to connect with and where they’re at. It’s also helpful to understand what level of social media interaction they currently have. For example, if you’re selling vitamins to seniors then tweeting about them all day isn’t your best bet. Find out what your audience likes and dislikes and get involved with them.

Get Engaged

Social media is anything but passive. It’s about a two-way conversation and that means you need to plan on being involved and contributing to the dialogue. Your social media plan should include how time will be allocated to develop relationships and communicate with your audience.

Stretch Your Creative Muscle

Once you’ve nailed down some of the basics for your social media plan you’ll want to customize your strategy. Brand it and make it your own, after all social media isn’t based on tweets alone. Get inspired by taking a look at how other businesses have leveraged their social media presence.

Measure and Evaluate

You need to figure out what success means to you and how your social media plan will measure it. Choose which key metrics are most important to you in measuring your ROI and set-up methods to gather data on a regular basis.

At the end of the day, a social media marketing plan can be effectively used to build brand awareness, brand loyalty, build word of mouth marketing and convert customers into brand ambassadors. Put some thought and creativity into you plan that goes beyond tweeting and posting and you’ll be on your way to enhancing a relationship between you and your audience.

Were these suggestions helpful? What are some other key points to consider when beginning a social media marketing plan? Share with us.

Incorporating video into your website and social media sites is an excellent way to grab the attention of your audience. Just like most of us enjoy reading books with pictures, we also want to see and hear through a movie. With the average person watching 182 online videos each month and YouTube serving more than 1 billion videos each day it’s easy to see that video is a marketing strategy that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Video Topic & Content

The subject that you choose for your video really depends on your brand, audience and industry. You might decide to showcase a news-themed video about a new product launch or maybe create a how-to or information-based video for your audience. Spend some time researching what your audience would like to watch. Let their preference help to guide you as you develop your script and content. Knowing what appeals to your consumers and following suit can help you convert them into brand evangelists.

Script & Filming

Hands down, the best thing about video marketing in 2010 is that you don’t need to hire an expensive agency with copywriters and art directors to put your video together. That’s not to say having Don Draper and his team of Mad Men available at your beck and call is a bad thing. If you have the budget and the time it’s worth exploring. For the rest of us, using a simple handheld or computer cam is more than ample in terms of equipment. Before you launch your video put together a rough script to help focus on what you want to cover. If necessary, use a tripod to keep the camera steady while recording.

Packaging Your Video

Some popular forms of video include testimonials from satisfied customers, highlight products being used in real-life situations, training videos or walk-throughs to simplify complex processes or extend existing content-like presentations. There are many possibilities when it comes to video. What’s important is that you drive traffic to your video. Try to cross-promote or develop a video series that will get your audience involved and keep them coming back for more.

Video Optimization

Here’s the part where we talk about search engine optimization. You can – and should – optimize your videos. Include keywords in your script, the title of your video and tagging. Word on the street is that YouTube will be launching a feature that makes the audio portion of all videos searchable. By optimizing your video scripts now you’ll stand a better chance of having your audio appear in keyword searches. Don’t forget to include keywords in your video title. Just be conscious of keyword overload. You still want people to know what your video is about. Use keywords in moderation.

Upload & Share

Take full advantage of all the video outlets that you have available. Host your videos on your website and include homepage teasers to let people know that you’ve created fresh video content. Upload your videos to all the major sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Viddler. Make your video available in multiple locations and you’ll give yourself a greater opportunity to appear in user-generated searches.

Monitor, Track & Analyze

Once you’ve gotten past creating and uploading your video you’ll want to involve yourself in its metrics. This will help you determine if it’s a success or a failure. Pay attention to the number of views, comments left about your video, revenue spikes and whether the perception of your brand has benefited.

If you need a little video inspiration, check out Erik Qualmann’s Socialnomics video that he put together to launch his new book. This video went viral and helped put Qualmann and his book on the map overnight.

ac

Get creative, have fun and test out video with your marketing strategy.

When done correctly, a social media marketing campaign can yield tremendous results. With that being said, social media is more than just creating a social profile and calling it good. It’s about interaction and engagement.

According to 2010 Twitter statistics, the micro-blogging site has more than 106 million registered users and it’s adding an average of 300,000 new users each day. A total of 55 million daily tweets along with 3 billion unique searches show that people are extremely interested in sharing information with one another and want to learn more. Clearly, Twitter is a powerful social media force that has the potential to connect brands with their target audiences.

An important part of social media is knowing that different marketing strategies need to be used on different social media sites. A cookie cutter approach doesn’t cut it in the word of online marketing. Here are a few simple steps can be used to develop a solid base that will help you build your brand presence and following on Twitter.

1. Attract the Right Followers

Sometimes the excitement of launching a Twitter marketing strategy can dilute the purpose behind it. Stay focused on who you want to attract as a follower. This means that you’ll need to look toward other relevant tweeters and join-in on their conversations. People naturally gravitate toward others who have similar interests. If your brand is all about insurance then you’ll want to look for some of the successful a-listers on Twitter and start tweeting with them. Others will take notice and follow you as well.

2. Original & Optimized Tweets

Getting caught up in your own brand happens to the best of us. Try not to broadcast a ‘me-me-me’ message when you’re tweeting. You’ll establish more credibility and appear more genuine if you tweet about information and resources that are helpful to your audience. This doesn’t mean that you need to avoid anything about your brand, it just means you should be selective and sporadic when you share brand-related tweets. Followers are more inclined to list and reach out to you when they see that you’ve set your ego aside.

3. Share With Retweets

This is truly one of the most powerful ways to build long-lasting Twitter relationships. Retweets are an excellent way to augment your Twitter marketing strategy. Think of a retweet as social media currency – you give a tweet and someone pays you twofold with a retweet. They’re like pats on the back that show other tweeters that what you’ve shared is worth spreading around to everyone. The Twitterverse is only so small and retweets give others outside of your following a chance to see the type of content that you tweet about.

4. Integrate Twitter With Other Social Media Outlets

All in all, the social media realm is a fairly friendly place. You really don’t hear much about social media services trying to pillage each other’s users. Thankfully, everyone plays well with one another and as a result many open APIs have given developers an opportunity to create applications and programs that integrate different social media services with one another. You can connect Twitter to Facebook, LinkedIn, WordPress and, well, just about any social media outlet. This is an important component in your strategy because even though you’re marketing hub is Twitter, social integration allows you to expand your reach to other audiences.

5. Use Twitter Tools

If Twitter is a social media vehicle (base model) then Twitter tools are all the bells and whistles that you can use to customize it and make it a lean, mean social media machine. There are thousands of different tools that can help you monitor, follow, schedule tweets, analyze and much more. For additional tool suggestions, check out MindSprout’s Delicious page and type Twitter in the tag search. Some tools that are worth checking out include:

• TweetPhoto – exchange and share photos on Twitter
• TweetStats – graph and track your Twitter usage and reply statistics
• TweetBeep – keep track of conversations that mention your brand
• Mr. Tweet – this tool seeks out follow-worthy tweeters just for you

By using the steps above you can craft a customized Twitter marketing strategy that will increase your brand awareness and leverage your brand’s presence among the competition.

What are some of the other ways that your brand is using Twitter to market itself? Please share with us below.

Social media continues to evolve in amazing and creative ways. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a fresh spin on a simple concept will pop-up and completely change everything. Enter Stickybits. Founded by social media entrepreneur Seth Goldstein and software engineer Billy Chasen, Stickybits lets people take barcode stickers and adhere them to objects and then use an iPhone app or Android app to scan the barcode. The fun part comes when people attach digital information to the barcode by either embedding messages and text or attaching videos or photos to it.

An Example

A better way to explain the concept is by using an example. Let’s say you bought a birthday card for your best friend and you put a Stickybits sticker inside of it. You use the barcode sticker to attach a funny video of you singing her favorite song. Next, you sign, seal and deliver the card and when your pal receives it she uses her smartphone to scan the barcode. She’ll be connected to the video and a happy birthday greeting from you. Stickybits uses SimpleGeo to automatically encode GPS information into the barcode that forms a trail each and every time the barcode is scanned. Nifty.

Stickybits barcodes can be purchased from Amazon ($9.95 for a pack of 20 vinyl barcodes) or you can download up to 50 unique barcodes directly from Stickybits and send them to your printer for instant use. Once you’ve got your barcodes you’re only limited by the boundaries of your creativity. There are limitless possibilities with Stickybits on a social media marketing level.

Business Cards

Some people are attaching Stickybits to their business cards and including links to their blogs, resumes and LinkedIn profiles. The great thing about Stickybits is that you can update what your barcode links to as often as you wish. This allows you to keep things current and interesting for new business relationships and potential clients. Plus, you can keep tabs on who’s scanning and viewing your barcode by setting up alerts. You can even receive notifications that tell you when your barcode is on the move or if it’s changed locations. A nice feature for anyone who’s attending a networking event and handing out multiple cards to leads.

Zazzle

Stickybits has partnered with Zazzle, the online retailer that allows users to upload their own images and create their own merchandise, like shirts, posters and coffee mugs, or purchase merchandise created by others. Essentially, you could print Stickybits t-shirts that feature a barcode that your customers can wear, scan and keep to access unique offers or discounts. Regular updates will keep offers fresh and your customers become a trendy, walking marketing tool for your company.

People are applying Stickybits to cereal boxes and sharing recipes that contain the cereal as a main ingredient. Others are designing flyers with Stickybits and attaching videos for people to see instead of traditional photos. Stickybits has tremendous potential and it would be no surprise to see it adopted by the masses. It’s definitely a must-watch website and application that we predict to be a social media success in the next year.

You might be one of the most talented writers in the world with some of the most innovative ideas for blog posts, but all of it means zilch if you don’t have an audience. You need to get your blog noticed if you want to grow your readership base and sometimes that’s more easily said than done. Below are some tips to get you moving in the right direction, however, it is not a comprehensive list and there are certainly many other ways to increase traffic. But for now, we thought sharing a few of the basics would be a good place to start.

1. RSS Feed

Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is the format used to deliver changing web content. Prominently feature an RSS button on your blog so that people can subscribe to your posts. Surprisingly, there are many blogs that have buried their RSS buttons among the sidebar clutter and others that have neglected to include a RSS button entirely. Make sure that you’ve got yours front and center.

2. Index Your Blog

A super important step, but sometimes overlooked one, is indexing. Folks, you do this for your website and your blog is no exception. You deserve to be noticed and read by search engines. Don’t cheat yourself from search engine page rankings and the opportunity for people to find you through Google, Yahoo! or what have you. At the risk of sounding like Martha Stewart, indexing is a good thing.

3. Grab ‘Em With A Headline

Headlines are important because it’s your big chance to hook your readers. Think of headlines as synopsis of your blog post in 10 words or less. No need to get clever or sales pitchy. Just let people know exactly what you’ve written and what they can expect to read. Since most internet users are looking for info, including blog posts with ‘how to‘ in their titles can pull in readers quite well.

4. Publish Frequently

Far too often, blogs start out with a heap of motivation and drive, but end in neglect. Keeping readers engaged means posting often and routinely. Without regular content, readers lose interest. Blogging takes some commitment and a certain level of care regarding the readers that you’re producing for. Treat them well and they’ll reward you back as loyal subscribers and promoters of your blog.

5. Shameless Email Promotion

Chances are you probably only update your blog once a day, but you probably email multiple times in an hour. Include a link to your blog in the signature of all your emails. Consider using a service like Wisestamp to create an electronic signature that features a link to your blog. Easy and effective marketing.

6. Link to Other Blogs

The sidebars of most blogs are a mecca of data and details, one in particular is the blogroll. Blogrolls are link collections to other blogs that you find to be inspiring, resourceful or humorous. However you choose to organize your blogroll, featuring links to other related blogs gives your readers additional places to go to for more information. Blogroll etiquette states that when you link someone in your blogroll that they should reciprocate in theirs. A nice way to expand your social circle. It also gets you recognized by other bloggers who track the blogroll universe and that can help you build your social network. Which leads us to tip numero siete.

7. Guest Blogging and Bloggers

Use your social network to invite other well-known bloggers to contribute an exclusive post to your blog site. This is a nice way to generate some buzz about who you are and share some of your guest blogger’s vigilant fans. On that same token, volunteer yourself to guest blog for a fellow colleague in your industry. Try not to think of blogging as a competition, but instead as a place to help others by sharing your expertise and empowering them to experiment and implement on their own.

8. Syndication

The power of social media ranks right up their with the Jedi masters (ok, maybe not quite, but it’s pretty strong). When you publish fresh content to your blog make sure that you send and share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and your other social media sites. There are tons of fantastic social media aggregator tools available that can help you syndicate your blog feed with just a simple click of your mouse.

9. Use Share Buttons

Share buttons like the tweetmeme give your readers additional opportunities to share your content with others. There are many different plugins, add-ons and widgets available that you can include in your blog to make it easy for others to spread the good word about your latest publishings.

Hope these suggested tips are helpful. Please let us know about others that you’ve tried or are currently using.