Social media marketing – a definition

You've probably heard of social media marketing (SMM). It refers to websites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Squidoo, Yahoo Answers, Flickr, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and del.icio.us.

Places where cool young people go to hang out on the internet, right? Wrong! People of all ages and education levels are hanging out in these sites. More importantly, business are popping up within them.

SMM can be used as another branch to an SEO campaign, although this is still a subject of contention among the SEO community. The dilemma is the whole idea behind social media is just that: it's social. Social is not a term we normally associate with work. And most of the people using social media websites are not there to do work stuff or have yours thrust in front of them.

Why should I engage in social media marketing?

Because it will return you with large, short bursts of traffic to your website and increase the number of links to your website or blog. It will build your online profile and is also a good way to diversify your traffic and make your website not as reliant on traffic from Google or Yahoo.

From a soloist's perspective, it can fill the water cooler gap by providing you with conversation, a sense of community and hopefully a pat on the back for your contribution.

As a solo business owner, one of your greatest assets is your expertise and SMM enables you to share that with people. Think of it as the human approach to marketing - because the basis of social media is about feedback, it can provide you with a warm and fuzzy connection to a real person.

How do I do SMM as a one-man band?

Get ready to Answer!

Business opportunities abound on Yahoo Answers. Answers works just like you'd expect: someone asks a question, someone else answers it. Questions are categorised so you can search for your area of expertise and start answering people's questions. There's even a small business category.

The best bit of Answers, apart from getting real leads, is out of all the Social Media Marketing tools Yahoo is one of the few that encourages you to link out. If you can provide a relevant link to your website in an answer – do it.

Build your profile by becoming an expert and people will start to click through to your website or blog to check out your services – just like that!

Get clickin' on Flickr

If your work is best represented by a picture, get onto photo sharing site, Flickr. If I was an architect, builder, hairdresser, fashion designer, restaurant owner or I sold beautiful products, I would post pictures of them on Flickr.

Flickr is organised by groups. There are hundreds of thousands of groups on Flickr, so there is a strong chance there is already a group created where you can add your work.

Flickr is a social community, so you are not encouraged to promote your business everywhere, however by joining a relevant group, creating an in-depth profile with a link to your website and sharing and commenting on pictures, you can again build yourself as an expert or promote your products in a different light.

I recently came across some pictures of food from a Sydney restaurant that were so beautiful I had to go and eat there.

Just make sure when you write your descriptions about photos you upload that you don't write how much they cost or where people can get them. Relax, take off your marketing hat and write about what you see!

Get LinkedIn

No article on this topic would be complete without mentioning the one SMM dedicated to businesses. LinkedIn works the six degrees of separation theory, once you start connecting to people, you can view their contacts and start to find potential clients or service providers. LinkedIn is just like your local networking group, only online.

Social media marketing is a rapidly expanding marketplace. The three sites I've highlighted are those I think provide the biggest return for solo business owners. However there are hundreds of sites emerging, so take a look around and see what fits you.

Just a final note of warning – social media marketing can be a double-edged sword. Some businesses find it has brought about negative publicity so just remember you are in a social environment, mind your manners and leave marketing speak behind.

Louise Gorrie is all things web. Her business, BlackMax Media, helps other businesses define and achieve their online goals using a holistic approach to website development, online marketing and search engine optimisation.

09 Jun 08

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14 comments | Add your own 1 2 3 | Next» View all»

Louise as an active SMM I would agree that you must choose your presentation of self well, congruently showing a personal and professional entity.
I find one of the most thrilling effects of the "new" world is that I attract not only multiple and clever colleagues or information sources through this interaction, but real clients of the right "style" for me and my multi-faceted projects. This "right fit" may be unimportant to some, but to me it is paramount to success, as I seek long-term, intimate connectivity with my client/colleague group, working in strategically partnering and strategically connecting others.
There are some who may pigeon-hole me from my profile, (and from my website, which is a tip of the iceberg of work activities) and there are probably 5-10 that dislike then dismiss and discard me, and 3+ gems that gravitate and grow into my network. This is an excellent return on what is an enjoyable, if somewhat time consuming activity.
Tips can be gained from reading and looking at what people/businesses "do" thereon. Multi-level marketers I feel make the biggest and most repeated range of errors in their efforts. Others, who I find out later have wonderful businesses and talents are conversely, far too shy in revealing their skillsets.
I levy the associated cost of a) the learning curve and b) the effort for maintaining presence against both my marketing and my professional development budgets,. I refine my usage in the same way I would any other tool, through planning and measuring effective methodologies. (Sometimes I just kick back and have fun, too.) Karen Dempster - Creating Change from Melbourne - which is super cold tonight!
Louise, great article. I just started working on my own social media marketing but it's very time consuming to have your profile on all social websites and keep it updated. Judit Nagy from Sydney
I have a presence on facebook, myspace, linkedin, youtube, and yahoo answers. I may have built goodwill, however I have not seen a dollar return from any site....yet.
I agreeit is VERY time consuming. Heather Smith from BRISBANE
Is it a big time waster to have a blog page
when you are running your own business? LYN PRESTON from Australia, Victoria
Is it wasting time having a blog page when you are in business and have a website? LYN PRESTON from Australia, Victoria
Hi Lyn,
This article doesn't address the issue of blogs, but since you've asked, I'll answer. I have a number of clients whose businesses do not suit blogs. Most of these are service based businesses where not a lot of information changes and they don't have the resources to do a blog justice.
However, if they ever had the time to write meaningful good content on a blog I would encourage them. It will not only improve traffic to your website, but if written well, position you as an authority in your industry and often it allows you to provide your customers with valuable information on subject matters that just don't fit into your existing website structure.
You might want to read the Flying Solo article on blogging:
www.flyingsolo.com.au/p234918034_Business-blogging-can-a-blog-help-your-business.html Louise Gorrie from Sydney | Read my articles

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