People ask us about social media more than any other internet marketing topic. Although we don’t consider ourselves a true “social media marketing” firm, we do spend a lot of time integrating our content development strategies in with other social strategies. As such, we understand social media’s unique challenges well.
When preparing to optimize your social media strategy, it’s important to understand what you’re asking for. Most people think that social media marketing is about making a sale. Although you eventually want to sell your product, if you just try to make a sale right away, you’re not likely to see much success.
So what are you asking for on social media? You are initially asking for a slice of someone’s attention. Before you can ever get a twitter follower to get their wallet out, you first need a slice of their attention.
When they give you that attention, do you have something to offer them worthwhile? This is the test of a strong social media presence. Perhaps you have an interesting blog, a training video, or recipe guide you can give out. Maybe you are witty and have something funny to say. Perhaps you are an expert in your field and people want to know what you have to say.
One of my favorite ways to think about a social media presence is Michael Hyatt’s Social Media Framework. The framework breaks down all your online profiles into one of three categories.
1. Homebase – For most companies, this is their company website. It may also be a blog if they are active bloggers. This is a piece of digital real estate that you own. You are in complete control of the way it looks and behaves. Usually you will need to get customers to visit your homebase before they can be converted into sales.
2. Embassies – Embassies are places where you have a strong, personal presence, but you don’t really own the real estate. Examples of embassies include Twitter and Facebook. You can create your own company profile that is customized to your company. You can also interact with people and push your message out for potential fans. Ultimately though, you will usually want to get the visitors back to your homebase in order to get them to convert.
3. Outposts – Outposts are those places where you keep an eye open, but you don’t have an active presence. Our team uses Google Alerts to help us keep up with developments related to our clients and our own company. If something new appears, we want to know about it. We also use HootSuite to keep up with our Twitter feed to find out what people are saying about us.
This model allows us to develop a strategy for our social media presence. We begin by making sure our homebase is in good shape. Without a homebase, we have trouble really connecting with potential customers. We then use our embassies to interact with others and share our message. Finally, our outposts let us keep up with changing trends so we can respond appropriately.
About the Author
Tyler Brooks is a SEO and video production specialist at Proof SEO.
