Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Integrate Marketing into Social Networking The Right Way

Social networking sites continue to be the hottest trend in the internet world. Catering to an unlimited public audience and reaching every corner of the globe, social networks have become a bridge to connect people of different ages, backgrounds, and interests. This phenomenon remains to be one of the most effective means to reach the market, not only because it can easily be used and accessed by anyone, but also because it is inexpensive.
As an online marketer, you need to be smart and know how to use social networks wisely. Getting the idea of how sites for social networking operate can give you an edge and enable you to maneuver your online business to the next level. These are smart ways on how you can effectively integrate your marketing prowess using social networks.
• Set up live accounts. One of the best and easiest ways to get people into your business is to use great social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or LinkedIn. If you don't already belong to these sites you should join now. There are lots of other social networks where you can sign up but these are a good start. This would work just as well for your network marketing business or your brick and mortar business because of the available traffic and low cost, so you can create a page all about your business at each of these sites without having to spend a dime.

• Find social networking sites with the same niche as your business and learn to build relationships with people whom you share the same interests with. This way, you will begin to increase the people that know about you. You can also make use of social network features like avatars, profile editors or widgets to make your site more interesting but that can wait. The important thing is to just get started for now and learn as you go.

• Be active and participate. After setting up an account, you can participate in campaigns by making votes, comments or content ratings on other people’s blog posts. Build and establish trust and respect among other members by joining forums or community groups and reaching out to them. This would allow them to know more about you and your business as well. As you begin to widen your circle of new friends, people within the group will start to plugin, rate, and vote for your content. Remember that effective social network marketing is more than just selling, it is about building relationships. People will know if you’re only there for the money.

• Make relevant and reliable content. Be in the know of what the majority of the community members are interested in and contribute to their interests. View the profiles of other members and take note of the kind of content they are sharing in the network. Engage with people who have the same niche as the blogs you publish or post. To effectively utilize social networking sites in marketing, you need to provide relevant content. This will be the main factor for you to attract a lot of traffic to your site. It is also important to update your site on a regular basis as this will always give your visitors something to look forward to.

• Invest your time. Social networking sites can leverage your exposure, and a smart way to accomplish this is to invest your time. Generating traffic to your site doesn’t mean flooding every social networking site with ads, group messages or blog updates. It will take you a little time to build your market using this tool. Nevertheless, once you’ve established good relationships, the work pays off tremendously. Consistency is important in social network marketing. As you invest you time, you would see a growing increase in your website traffic.

Social networking can benefit you and enlarge your target market by generating traffic to your site. It also allows you to reach many people in little time without the normal expense. More than that, it also improves your search engine ranking allowing more people to be informed of your product or service. So be a business owner and use social networks to reach your market.

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