One Giant Leap into Social Media Marketing
I thought I would share the intro of my book with you. I have had many emails from people that have found the blighter super handy when tackling their own social media. It is available at the ridiculously low price of £4.49 GPB on iTunes, Amazon and all good digital download stores.
“A man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him” William James.
Introduction: If you have a business, a product, a service or a career of any kind, there will be a reason for you to get on the social media bandwagon, therefore, read this book! I have come across three kinds of ‘social media people’.
The first; ‘are all over it like a rash’, the second; ‘dip in and out’ and the third; set up a profile page and then walk off into the sunset. Happily ever after?
No!
Only half of what they could be saying is being said. The other half has been left open for someone else to fill in the gaps. #fail.
To be honest, the days when people thought Facebook to be an annoying, intrusive waste of time, have been replaced by a new understanding that it can be beneficial and promote their business, career etc. It doesn’t just have to be a place where you show the world your holiday snaps!
We are the first in our generation to experience this world, therefore, these typical teething issues are usual, when testing a new product. For our kids, on the other hand, it is second nature.
We can’t argue that social media has single-handedly changed the way in which we use the internet – and it ain’t going anywhere! So the key is to totally understand your reasons for use and to work out your time accordingly.
This book isn’t going to go over old news, nor is it trying to be groundbreaking in any way, shape or form. For beginners, it’s a bible; for regulars, a refresher course and for people ‘in the know’, it’s full of incentives and jam packed with inspirational ideas to get you creating consistently good content for your online communities sequentially, this book will generate leads for your business that can convert into stone hard cash!
Now do I have your attention?
If you are in charge of a social media platform for yourself, a business or even your friend or family member, then you are pretty much, an Inbound Marketer. I am sure I have offended many qualified and established Marketers with that comment but the facts speak for themselves. None the less, if you have that responsibility, you have a say in that person’s online success.
That makes you very important.
Unless you are Marks & Spencer and you have a Digital PR company handling your entire online PR, it is up to you to drive sales and manage the social media channels available to us all in 2012. This is now, easier than ever and you just have to stalk a few companies online for a few months to work out their strategies and reproduce them! I would like to clarify that I am using the word reproduce very loosely here. I am certainly not telling you to start selling the freshly made tarts in your café with a video of a gorilla sat at the drums miming to Phil Collins on YouTube.
The work of an ‘Inbound Marketer’ never stops. We are constantly thinking up weird and wonderful ideas on how to portray good content to our audiences in a magical way that has never been done before (very difficult) or ways in which to capture them and engage with them and eventually, get them to use us, buy from us, create with us or just even ‘like’ us!
Please! (I hear you cry) Why do we have to work SO hard at getting someone to ‘like’ us?
Those that are familiar with this comment and spend hours trying to capture peoples attention online, will understand what I mean. It can become a real obsession to ‘up your likes’ on Facebook or ‘get more followers’ on Twitter, but stop just a minute. Imagine a scenario where you are introducing yourself to a stranger at a networking event. You wouldn’t just approach them and start shouting how brilliant you are would you? (although I have definitely met a few that would). Instead, you would most probably join a conversation or be introduced accordingly etc. Consequently when working to make friends online, you have to work a little harder to get them to ‘like’ you straight away. You have to think of engaging ways in which to grab peoples attention and remember first impressions always count.
From tweets to writing content to filming content to posting on your Facebook wall there is always something to push out to the rest of the world and the more creative you are, the better. You need to think about timing, relevance and accuracy, include humour, collate and present new and interesting information, be thoughtful, understanding, have time for others and above all, be trustworthy.
Now if you are already that person, this should be easy! The rest of you need to brush up on your social skills! Ahem.
Coming from a creative and media hungry industry, many of the ideas I have used in my online campaigns have been thought of out of the box. These ideas are now lesser known as such but can be relevant to any kind of business or person requiring exposure and brand development. I am going to break my ideas down into categories and hopefully you will find my brilliant tips for content, not only current but stand apart from competitors.
These are the first steps for using all the key social media channels and once these are in place, you will be able to generate leads to your business, engage with your customers on a regular basis, spot business opportunities and produce promotions that will increase traffic and sales. At the end of this book, I have included a list of 101 juicy content ideas that you can start using use straight away on your social media channels and online communities, because I am nice. ”
Look out for more free excerpts in the coming weeks!